Stealing Night From Criminals

Normally, pursuing a suspect at night is an elaborate job that involves several officers, police dogs and perhaps even a helicopter.

But in a recent equipment tryout, a Santa Ana police detective was able to apprehend a suspected gang member without that show of force by using a night-vision camera.

Officials believe such sophisticated devices, which sense heat, are the wave of the future, allowing police to find people in dark alleys and tree-filled parks without long--and potentially dangerous--foot pursuits.

The 3 1/2-pound camera used in Santa Ana, which cannot “see” through water or glass, has a range of eight feet to five miles. Images appear ghostlike in shades of white and gray. The warmer the object, the brighter the image.

Santa Ana school police now use the technology to patrol campuses at night looking for trespassers and vandals. In Los Angeles and elsewhere, fire officials use them as part of their search-and-rescue efforts.

“Technology that allows us to see in the dark is critical to our work,” said Santa Ana’s school police services chief, James Miyashiro.

For more than a decade, agencies worldwide have been using various forms of thermal-sensing devices, mostly in police and military helicopters, stealth bomber reconnaissance operations and ocean rescues.

“We’re taking technology that for many years has been available for air and sea units and putting night eyes on the ground,” said Santa Ana Police Capt. Dan McCoy.

The results aren’t always so dramatic. On a recent evening, Santa Ana police spotted a teen smoking pot in a tree on school grounds.

The Raytheon Co. says that more than 1,100 of its mountable cameras and 2,000 of its hand-held models are used nationwide. The California Highway Patrol and police departments in San Jose and Sacramento are among the 18 agencies in California that have them, the company said.

In Riverside County, Murrieta police scanned a remote ravine in pitch darkness and detected two car theft suspects.

Law enforcement experts said night-vision equipment is one of the hottest items in police arsenals. The new police helicopter operated by Newport Beach and Costa Mesa police contains such a system. Los Angeles police are using the technology to monitor graffiti taggers.

Fire departments across the nation are using the devices, to determine whether people are trapped in burning buildings or lost in remote wilderness areas.

Two years ago, the technology helped Los Angeles firefighters save a 65-year-old disabled woman trapped by flames that enveloped the bedroom of her Panorama City home. Crawling on their stomachs, a four-man team of firefighters searched the house with such a camera and saw her image on the screen. The paraplegic woman was unconscious.

The devices have also helped rescuers find people thrown from cars in accidents. They can also be used to find fires hidden behind walls or brush fire hot spots.