WA Police Plane Patrolling the Tri-Cities Night Sky Like Batman

Tri-Cities criminals better beware! You can no longer hide in the night!

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Washington State Patroling the Tri-Cities Night Sky

You probably will not ever see or hear them but know that they are there, above your head in the sky keeping watch. Last night, the Washington State Patrol Aviation Unit started night patrols in the Tri-Cities area. The Official Washington State Patrol District 3 Public Information Officer Trooper Thorson issued a warning to angry or aggressive drivers at night. "Starting tonight, ⁦WSP⁩ will have an airplane in the sky over Tri-Cities looking for aggressive, reckless drivers." - Trooper C. Thorson.

The Equipment WSP Aviation Uses to Hunt Criminals at Night

The airplanes the Washington State Patrol are using are equipped with special equipment like a "Stabilized aerial imaging system with Forward Looking Infrared(FLIR), Microwave digital downlink system, Digital recorders, Media computers/software in Olympia for dubbing and DVD production, GPS overlay moving map system, Premier Mobile Data Computer (PMDC), High-resolution monitors, Night capabilities, and a radar altimeter." Even Batman might be outclassed with that kind of surveillance arsenal.

The Washington State Patrol Aviation Unit

The Aviation Unit for the Washington State Patrol has been in existence since 1959 and consists of multiple pilots, officers, and maintenance crew, working with 6 airplanes. The unit is based out of the Olympia airport and runs support with Washington State Patrol Troopers on the ground in many ways all over the state. The airplanes they use include one King Air B200 used for transportation flights, emergency service air operations, fire management, evidence transfer, and for one-Hour Flight Time response within the State of Washington.

The Planes Used for Patroling Tri-Cities This Weekend

The unit also has three Cessna-182 planes that are used for speed control, training, and cannabis eradication. The Washington State Patrol also uses two Cessna-206 airplanes for traffic speed enforcement, aerial surveillance & photography, video imaging, Homeland Security, hazards response Aircraft, and U.S. Navy security. This weekend the Washington State Patrol will be using the two Cessna-206 airplanes to find aggressive drivers trying to use the darkness of night to hide or run away. They might have a better chance of trying to hide from Batman.