Geoff Manaughmarch mused about the things he learned while he was flying around in Los Angeles’ police helicopters:

• A city’s infrastructure shapes the kind of crimes it has to deal with. The soft sedimentary rocks of Los Angeles mean that crimes committed through tunnels are far more common than in the granite New York City.
• Los Angeles’ extensive freeways also make bank jobs more lucrative as thieves have an easy route to make a quick get-away.
• Police choppers can’t get too close to airports because of the restricted airspace, meaning that get-away drivers are increasingly learning to lose heat in and around airports.
• Right now police copters are hindered by their inability to pinpoint exact addresses they can direct ground forces towards. As aerial policing – through things such as drones – becomes more common, expect to see a push to paint street addresses on rooftops.

Read more about what the police see from their eyes in the skies, and how predictive policing could change the role that helicopters have to play over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution