Page 95 - May-June-July Life In Naples Magazine

video as well as thermal imagery. It’s integrated into

a mapping system that provides a 3-D overlay of the

mapping data over the image for road information,

and gives the option of adding local data from the

agency’s geographic information system (GIS) for

Collier County. It also has topographic mapping for

search and rescue loaded into it.

The gyro-stabilized camera calculates the GPS

coordinates of whatever it is looking at, and those

coordinates are overlaid onto the map. So if crew

members locate a person or object from the air, the

camera will tell them the precise coordinates of

what they have found.

The camera can also lock onto those coordinates The new camera is lighter and smaller than the previous camera system.The small size and low weight allow the ball-shaped
so the pilot can maneuver the helicopter around camera to be placed at the tip of the nose of the aircraft rather than under the belly, offering the crew an unobstructed view.
the area for a better angle, but the camera will

automatically remain aimed at the target. During located a heat signature and the crew directed three deputies on the ground to a location in

a flight, the pilot controls the helicopter while the heavily wooded area.

a tactical flight officer operates the surveillance “They located Mr. Gunther sitting with crossed legs in a very small remote clearing

equipment. some 200 yards behind his residence in very dense woods,” Lt. Cherney said.

The biggest difference is the infrared camera, The CCSO Aviation Unit has been using infrared camera technology since 1996. The

Cherney said. new cameras mark the fourth upgrade to the infrared technology.

Even with slight temperature variations, The Aviation Unit is made up of four full-time pilots, including Cherney. All are trained

infrared or thermal imaging technology permits to use the new technology.

the flight crew to see objects that may otherwise CCSO helicopters fly law enforcement missions every day. The 1971 Bell OH-58

go undetected at night. This allows the flight crew military surplus helicopters are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Cherney said.

to locate criminals who don’t want to be found or Searches for missing persons,fleeing criminals and crime suppression patrols – saturating

people who are lost and don’t know where they are. targeted areas with high-visibility patrols based on crime trend data – make up an estimated

The area where Gunther was ultimately located 80 percent of all aviation missions, Cherney said.

had been searched multiple times early on to no During the six years the helicopters had the 12TS200 cameras,the Aviation Unit located

avail, indicating he had been mobile during the 123 missing people and assisted with 217 felony arrests and 100 misdemeanor arrests.

search, moving in and out of areas that had been The Aviation Unit has located 16 missing people and assisted with 27 felony arrests

previously cleared, said Lt. Cherney. since Jan. 15, 2014, when the MX-10s took flight.

Some 24 hours into the search the flight crew Local law enforcement agencies greeted the new technology with enthusiasm.

decided to reinitiate the search from the beginning Assistant Chief David Baer of the Marco Island Police Department said the department

and completely re-searched the area that had frequently taps CCSO’s Aviation Unit for assistance in finding missing children, seniors

been previously searched and cleared. The CCSO and boaters as well as fleeing suspects.

helicopter, using the Wescam MX-10 camera, “I think the enhanced technology is fantastic,” said Assistant Chief Baer. “It enhances

our abilities and will make Marco Island and all of Collier County a safer place.”

A screen grab from video taken from a high-definition camera onboard A Collier County Sheriff ’s Office Aviation crew flies over Marco Island using a high-tech camera system.The recently added tech-
a Collier County Sheriff ’s Office helicopter shows the moment three nology allow deputies in the sky to catch fleeing suspects and find lost persons quicker. Photo(s) by Cpl. Efrain Hernandez/CCSO

deputies found a 47-year-old man with Down syndrome who wandered
away from his home in July 2014. Deputies in the sky guided deputies

on the ground to the man’s location after the camera’s infrared thermal
imaging system detected a heat signature in dense woods near the man’s

residence in Golden Gate Estates. CCSO photo.

Life in Naples | May • June • July 2015 95