Why no Cannons on Police Helicopters?

"Don Harstad" wrote in message ...
"Mutts" wrote in message
...

Wouldnt a cannon on a police helicopter solve a lot of
problems for law enforcement?

Is it possible to put a round right through the engine block
of a suspect fleeing and stop them from killing innocents?
Seems like that kind of accuracy is possible now isnt it?

When those guys were robbing the bank in LA, seems like
it would have been an easy shot to make from a helicopter
even without a cannon.

Whats up? public outcry or something?

What's up? Common sense. You can't have a helo gunship blasting the
Interstate or side streets, downtown, etc... with innocent people
standing around or driving. Even the smallest fragments from cannon
fire could kill somebody nearby in a car, sidewalk, looking out a
store window, etc...
Seems like you've been watching "Blue Thunder" too much!

Rob

p.s. However, hypothetically, it WOULD be interesting to see a Police
version of an AC-130 tackle a Los Angeles riot!

"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...
What's up? Common sense. You can't have a helo gunship blasting the
Interstate or side streets, downtown, etc... with innocent people
standing around or driving. Even the smallest fragments from cannon
fire could kill somebody nearby in a car, sidewalk, looking out a
store window, etc...

Yeah, unless your a civilian in Iraq!

Si

According to a programs about police helicopters on Discovery Wings. San
Bernadino County CA Sheriff has a policy of allowing their officers in
county helicopters to fire back. The policy was set after a bank robbery
suspect wounded a pilot causing the observer to land the copter. The
program stated that they were the only non-military agency to have such
a policy. They have to qualify (I forget the time period) with both
hadguns and small machine guns of a uzi type.


robert arndt wrote:

"Don Harstad" wrote in message ...
"Mutts" wrote in message
...

Wouldnt a cannon on a police helicopter solve a lot of
problems for law enforcement?

Is it possible to put a round right through the engine block
of a suspect fleeing and stop them from killing innocents?
Seems like that kind of accuracy is possible now isnt it?

When those guys were robbing the bank in LA, seems like
it would have been an easy shot to make from a helicopter
even without a cannon.

Whats up? public outcry or something?

What's up? Common sense. You can't have a helo gunship blasting the
Interstate or side streets, downtown, etc... with innocent people
standing around or driving. Even the smallest fragments from cannon
fire could kill somebody nearby in a car, sidewalk, looking out a
store window, etc...
Seems like you've been watching "Blue Thunder" too much!

Rob

p.s. However, hypothetically, it WOULD be interesting to see a Police
version of an AC-130 tackle a Los Angeles riot!

Don Harstad wrote:
"Mutts" wrote in message
...

Wouldnt a cannon on a police helicopter solve a lot of
problems for law enforcement?

Is it possible to put a round right through the engine block
of a suspect fleeing and stop them from killing innocents?
Seems like that kind of accuracy is possible now isnt it?

When those guys were robbing the bank in LA, seems like
it would have been an easy shot to make from a helicopter
even without a cannon.

Whats up? public outcry or something?

Discharging a firearm toward another is considered deadly force. The use
of deadly force is very restricted, and understandably so. Simple traffic
violations have never been considered to justify the use of deadly force.

Reminds me of a T-Shirt that used to be popular at airshows, though I
haven't seen it in several years (darn it, mine is wearing out.)

Cartoon of a stretch of desert highway with the standard "Speed checked
by aircraft" sign, with an F-4 with CHP markings and a full bomb load
flying above.

Then there was the T-38 with LAPD markings that appeared in the film
"Dragnet" (the Dan Aykroyd/Tom Hanks version)...

[snip]

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

"Marc Reeve" wrote in message
. ..
Don Harstad wrote:

Then there was the T-38 with LAPD markings that appeared in the film
"Dragnet" (the Dan Aykroyd/Tom Hanks version)...

[snip]

-Marc
Yeah! I saw that... great bit. We received a model M-60 tank that was
painted in our Sheriff's markings... Looked good.

Don H.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that there is a law that prohibits
civilian aircraft, and that includes police aircraft, from having any type of
armaments attached.

On 18 Apr 2004 21:57:49 GMT, (JohnF73157) wrote:

I seem to remember reading somewhere that there is a law that prohibits
civilian aircraft, and that includes police aircraft, from having any type of
armaments attached.

Properly speaking, police aircraft aren't "civilian aircraft" in the
sense you mean. They're public aircraft, meaning operated by a public
agency, rather than private aircraft. The FAA doesn't regulate any
public aircraft except those dedicated to flying passengers.

NASA, a civilian agency, has operated armed aircraft fairly recently,
although that was only until we could get the guns out and return them
to the Navy, but we weren't breaking any law to do so. There are
private aircraft that fly with armament, doing testing for the
military, too.

Might you be thinking of the old prohibition of ejection seats in
private aircraft? That was about the pyros, I believe. However, it's
long gone and ejections seats are legal if maintained properly.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:38:09 -0700, (Marc Reeve)
wrote:

Cartoon of a stretch of desert highway with the standard "Speed checked
by aircraft" sign, with an F-4 with CHP markings and a full bomb load
flying above.

I had that on a placard over my desk for years, except that the road
sign had an F-4 silhouette on it as well.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

Mary Shafer wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:38:09 -0700, (Marc Reeve)
wrote:

Cartoon of a stretch of desert highway with the standard "Speed
checked by aircraft" sign, with an F-4 with CHP markings and a full
bomb load flying above.

I had that on a placard over my desk for years, except that the road
sign had an F-4 silhouette on it as well.

I found this one on the web a while back
http://jameshart.mine.nu/ngs/speedenforcementbyair.jpg

--
James...
www.jameshart.co.uk

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:56:08 +0100, "James Hart"
wrote:

Mary Shafer wrote:
On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:38:09 -0700, (Marc Reeve)
wrote:

Cartoon of a stretch of desert highway with the standard "Speed
checked by aircraft" sign, with an F-4 with CHP markings and a full
bomb load flying above.

I had that on a placard over my desk for years, except that the road
sign had an F-4 silhouette on it as well.

I found this one on the web a while back
http://jameshart.mine.nu/ngs/speedenforcementbyair.jpg

Netscape says it can't find this host. Maybe it's just my system or
ISP or something.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer