MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA AIRBORNE TROOPERS GO HIGH-TECH

New Nightvision Goggles And A Forward-Looking Infrared Camera Will Help In
Efforts

Airborne Alabama state troopers on daytime search-and-destroy missions
targeting marijuana fields are now being equipped with high-tech vision
tools that pierce the darkness of night to seek out fugitives and missing
people in rough terrain.

The aviation unit has been the bane of pot growers for years, and last year
was responsible for finding 30 percent more plants than it had in any year
since 1997, its records show. Since that year, members of the aviation unit
have flown more than 10,000 hours searching for marijuana farms. In the
process, they have located and destroyed more than 330,000 plants
throughout Alabama, according to statistics provided by the state
Department of Public Safety.

Now the unit is moving ahead with plans to heighten its efforts. It
recently spent more than $51,000 on nightvision goggles for its six pilots.
Each pair costs $8,600.

"With these things, we see the terrain and everything at night perfectly,"
said Kris Helton, chief pilot for the aviation unit, which is based at
Dannelly Field.

In addition to the night vision goggles, which also make night flying safer
for the pilots, Helton said the unit intends to acquire a second
forward-looking infrared camera to be attached to the belly of one of its
helicopters this year.

The thermal imaging camera helps pilots using nightvision goggles to locate
missing people easier by pinpointing landmarks such as trees and roads. The
camera's technology can pick up body heat and leads pilots to missing
people or criminals on the run in the heaviest of brush or trees.

In the past month, area law enforcement agencies have called for the unit
in locating four missing people in the state.

The troopers located two of them, one of whom was still alive.

"We've called for assistance from their helicopter many times," Montgomery
County Sheriff D.T. Marshall said. "They've been really good over the years."

The unit has helped the Sheriff's Department locate criminal suspects and
find stolen property such as cars, Marshall said.

Not everyone is thrilled about the unit's drug-busting success.

An administrator at an organization that is working to change laws
regarding marijuana use said the efforts are not good for the state.

"These programs are a waste," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications
for the Marijuana Policy Project based in Washington, D.C. "They are a
boondoggle. They allow politicians to say they are getting tough on drugs,
but they accomplish zero."

Mirken said the eradication flights are typical of law enforcement "welfare
programs," that keep many people employed on projects that are never-ending.

As the aviation unit expands its high-tech arsenal, it also plans to
broaden its reach by adding a base in Mobile in the next year. The new base
will serve south Alabama residents quicker, Helton said, and will
complement existing facilities in Montgomery and Decatur.

As it is, the unit patrols the skies in helicopters or small Cessna
airplanes that are either donated by the military or confiscated from drug
seizures.

One of the most prized possessions of the unit is a twin-engine Piper
Navajo. The airplane landed at Dannelly Field in 1983 with more than 700
pounds of cocaine, Helton said.

In addition, the plane had been modified to hold 200 additional gallons of
fuel. Part of the reason for the extra fuel may have been the long trip the
plane had made.

The turboprop was employing a navigation system that indicated the flight
had originated in Bogota, Colombia.

The strategy employed in using the converted aircraft to spot pot fields is
simple: Once the troopers locate the plants, they tell local law
enforcement officials where they can find the leafy intoxicant.

"We spot it. We direct them to it," said Cliff McLeod, a six-year veteran
of the unit and one of its six pilots.

For all the thrill and tension of searching for missing people and
eliminating marijuana crops, there's a simpler reason why trooper pilots
leave their patrol cars and slip into the clouds.

"Mainly it's the joy of flying. It's a promotion, really," said Michael
Gross, whose partners McLeod, Danny Coone and John Trimble did not disagree.