Laser incident targeting Detroit police helicopter prompts cross-border investigation

A laser was pointed at a Detroit police helicopter, prompting a cross-border investigation. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell reports.

A laser pointed at a Detroit police helicopter late Monday night prompted a cross-border investigation involving Canadian authorities.

Detroit police said the laser was directed at one of their aircraft units multiple times as it flew near the Detroit River. Officers believe the beam originated from the Windsor, Ont., side of the border.

“The Detroit Police Department contacted the Windsor Police Service to investigate this incident,” said Windsor Police Const. Bianca Jackson in an emailed statement.

“Our officers conducted a search of the area for a suspect and any evidence but were unable to locate anything. As a result, we are no longer investigating this matter.”

Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a federal offence in both Canada and the U.S. Experts warn the consequences can be severe.

“This is a real dangerous game,” said Chris Lewis, CTV public safety analyst and former OPP commissioner.

“When you point a laser at an aircraft, you risk blinding the pilot — the aircraft, helicopter or airplane falling out of the sky, killing the people in it, maybe landing on a house and killing a family or much more. So, this is pretty dangerous stuff.”

Lewis said pilots often have tools to identify the precise location the laser originated from.

“Ultimately, pilots can basically pin — like you can on a Google map on your phone — a location, so they have the exact coordinates as to where that light came from,” he said.

“That might come to somebody’s backyard, for example, as opposed to somebody on downtown Ouellette (Avenue). It may come to some area that specifically allows them to then track who was there at that time.”

He compared the act of pointing a laser at an aircraft to using a weapon.

“It’s like pointing a rifle at an aircraft — that can have the same consequences,” Lewis said.

Lewis also warned the public that this kind of behaviour can carry serious legal penalties.

“It’s a good reminder to the public how dangerous this is, given that Windsor is going to have a helicopter flying regularly around the city and the area, throughout Essex County, I assume,” he said.

“So, this is dangerous stuff, and it’s a criminal offense. It brings up to five years in prison, and if someone gets hurt or dies, you’re looking at a heck of a lot more time than that. So, let’s not do this again.”

Aviation expert John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University’s School of Aviation Management said these types of incidents are becoming increasingly common.

“This is a very regular occurrence,” Gradek said.

“It’s not something that happens once a year or once every couple of months. It is something that does happen, and law enforcement is really quick to respond.”

He acknowledged the difficulty of finding those responsible, but noted police have tools at their disposal.

“It is a very difficult situation to investigate and to find the culprits,” he said.

“But there are tools that are used by law enforcement to be able to pinpoint where the laser was sighted and the exact physical address of the origin of that laser point. So, more often than not, they do catch the individuals that have been pointing the lasers.”

No injuries were reported in this week’s incident, and no suspects have been identified.

-With files from CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum and AM800’s Dustin Coffman.