Washington State Highway Patrol provides statewide aerial enforcement, rapid response, airborne assessments of incidents, and transportation services in support of the Patrol’s public safety mission — says the Washington State Highway Patrol in some sharp-looking PR material.
But the Patrol’s glossy brochure doesn’t mention WSP Aviation’s strongest hidden asset: its banter. The reason for that is understandable. After all, Department of Homeland Security provided a many-hundred-thousand dollar grant for aerial DUI enforcement, not conversations about hunting or jokes about flying sideways between downtown skyscrapers.
WSP Aviation currently manages seven aircraft. They are a pair of King Airs, three Cessna 182’s, and a pair of Cessna 206’s. (In one publication the 206’s were mistakenly referred to as Cessna 208’s. That happened to be the publication I was reading when I wrote the burned-in caption toward to the beginning of this video.)
It’s the Cessna 206’s that are equipped with thermal imaging cameras, which have a custom software solution that allows any target to be marked and its ground speed automatically calculated, which is how aerial speed enforcement happens without needing special areas of roadway marked at fixed intervals for aerial visibility and speed calculation.
Aerial services provides statewide day and night aerial traffic enforcement, traffic congestion management, pursuit management, as well as services such as crowd monitoring, search and rescue support, and more.
You have probably seen footage from police helicopters. Police fixed-wing aircraft? Less likely.
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Let’s change that.
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
I know I'm probably not the only one saying this but damn that looks as good as a GTA 5 map.
Assuming you need at least a commercial pilot’s license to do this kind of work, how many of the 250 hours are spent in speech therapy class so you can sound exactly the same as every other pilot?
45:46 they are laughing about possibly dropping something out of the plane âœˆï¸ that could seriously cause bodily injury or even death 💀
I remember watching a documentary on the East German Stasi where a few of the secret police were talking back and forth on a phone line about some protesters. History truly does repeat
Man, it seems like a little overkill to catch speeders and maintaining hwy safety. How are the patrol officers supposed to pull off and check their facebook and do their personal business on the clock with "The spy in the sky" watching all day? Hahahaha!
I propose buying an Apache helicopter to catch jaywalkers – The menaces to society.
Imagine how much tax payer money is used to fuel this unnecessary tool for catching speeders! Wow! That 300k airplane really pays for itself when you catch 3 people a day speeding! Oh and that $6000 fuel bill PER fuel up also really pays for itself !!
Shoot them down
wow busting people doing 70. what a waste of fucking money lol
What the speed limit there? In vegas they dont ticket you unless its atleast 10 over the speed limit.
There is sooo much tax money and government funding they can spend $1,000’s an hour to ticket speeder. That is crazy.
I don't hear any voice traffic with air-traffic control. I'm not a pilot, but I know there are people here who are experts and watch for violations of FAA rules. They should have the chance to detect rule violations and report those to the FAA for action. At the end of the day this is still just a civilian pilot, and his obligation to obey all flight rules at all times heavily outweighs his civilian mission as a police employee or police officer.
I live in WA, They have 3 Cessna 182’s each costing $515,000, 2 Cessna 206’s equipped with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) cameras at $500k a piece. They have spent $2,545,000 on aircrafts to write $150 tickets lmao… They have 1 King air costing anywhere from $2-8 million, but I don't believe it's for catching speeders.
Ever wonder what those rain drops are when it is sunny and NOT overcast? Listen and search the skies!!
Vehicle going perfectly safe speed in a country with laughable speed limits and police overspending.
"He's going five over, scramble the f-22s!"
Sorry pieces of shit we literally have no privacy whatsoever now days this shit is getting out of hand we literally live in a police state every where in America all this money for two bozos in a helicopter to rat people out speeding karma's a bitch I always say.
Never seen something so ridiculous. What is the speed limit? and they seem to be saysing 69mph 71mph 72mph 74mph and "lane travel" but it is not wavering within its lane.
This is both kinda cool and also makes my blood boil they quite literally randomly pick cars going the rate of traffic. So petty.
How to waste thousands of dollars for government unneeded.
This big brother shit is unAmerican af
I used to live in Virginia where they have these signs. I routinely drove 90+ on the highway every day for a couple years and never had a problem. Speed enforcement by aircraft is bullshit
The level of detail is astounding
SAR and USCG use similar overlay software 🙂 pretty cool stuff
Pulled over for 74 in a 70? Come on.
Should have just sent a missile to that car doing 72 mph.
The state really realllly want your family's hard-earned money.
THIS IS GREAT, I PRAY YOU PILOTS ARE STILL WORKING IN WASHINGTON DOING A FANTASTIC JOB! TEXAS NAVY VETERAN! 🇺🇸💪⚓ï¸
Will a radar detector pick up the plane?
This does not put police in a good light. Picking off a car on commute? Despite the tech they have they cannot justify charging the flow of traffic. wHat dO wE do with a HeLi then?