SEPT 2020 Blues Vol 36 No 9

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Reprinted from Bobit Business Media and POLICE Magazine
Article reprinted with permission from:
Airborne Public Safety Association’s Air Beat Magazine
Daniel B. Schwarzbach, Air Beat Editor -in-Chief
Written by Lt. Randall Upton, HPD Marine Division
Pictures courtsey of HPD Air Support
The Houston Police Department (HPD) Air Support Division and
Airborne Public Safety Association have enjoyed a long, mutually
beneficial relationship. Having been founded around the same time,
their history has been intertwined.
APSA’s first elected president,
John Biggs, was one of the
original pilots and a founding
lieutenant in the Houston Police
Department’s (HPD) aviation
unit. Since then, at least three
other members of the aviation
unit have served on the APSA
Board of Directors, including
current Executive Director/CEO
Dan Schwarzbach. Additionally,
Houston was the site of the
inaugural then-ALEA Conference
& Exposition in 1970. The Bayou
City was again selected by the
association as the host for its
26th annual event held in 1996,
38th annual conference in 2008,
and 50th meeting in 2020, which
was cancelled due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
UNIT HISTORY
In the late 1960s, Houston Chief
of Police Hermann Short directed
an initiative to establish an
aviation unit primarily responsible
for patrol support and traffic
control in Houston. In January
1970, the department established
the HPD Helicopter Patrol Unit
as part of the traffic enforcement
division. Shortly thereafter,
the unit gained division status.
In August of 1970, wings were
pinned on the first eight of many
officers to be recognized as pilots
for the division.
The original HPD Air Support
Division fleet consisted of three
Hughes 269B helicopters, which
were acquired through a lease/
purchase contract. As the registration
number of each of
these aircraft ended with an “F,”
the helicopters quickly became
known as “Foxes,” a moniker
still in use today. It has become
a tradition with each new aircraft
purchased to designate an
N-number ending in F. During its
first year of operation, the HPD
Air Support Division flew 3,500
hours, with the majority being
dedicated to flight training for
the original eight pilots. Nevertheless,
during the 1,500 hours
flown on patrol, the unit responded
to 2,600 calls for service,
assisting in 228 arrests. The
effectiveness of the innovative
program was proven, and airborne
law enforcement has been
an integral part of policing in
Houston ever since. “We need a
Fox” and “Thanks Fox” are heard
multiple times on a daily basis
over the patrol radio channels.
The 1970s and 1980s in Houston
were a time of expansion
through annexation and explosive
population growth. More
aircraft were acquired to keep
up with the demand for airborne
police services. The HPD Helicopter
Patrol Division received
its first turbine helicopters in
1976, with the purchase of five
Hughes 369Cs. The faster turbine-powered
aircraft were just
what the rapidly expanding city
needed to maintain the level of
service the officers and citizens
had come to expect. The 269Bs
were phased out for 269Cs, and
within a decade of the unit’s
founding, 13 aircraft were online
with a 24-hour flight schedule.
As demand for service and
the growth of the city increased,
unit manpower peaked with a
38 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 39