NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com | Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Gets Eye In The Sky Thanks To Reserve Deputy

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has started an aviation unit headed by a Reserve Deputy who is donating use of the aircraft.

The small airplane is a new tool for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office - and for taxpayers - it comes absolutely free.

"It's able to seat 2 deputies to be eyes in the sky to communicate with deputies in the field, it's got the police radios in it," said Deputy Shannon Clark of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.

The new aviation unit is called "Raven 1" and it's flown by Reserve Deputy Roger Crow. He owns the airplane and says it's the first aircraft of this type especially built for law enforcement.

He's donating his time and the cost of the flights to test it all out, because he hopes to sell duplicates to other departments.

Aircraft Pics

The selling point for the airplane is that it's easy and very inexpensive to fly. It costs about $40 dollars an hour, compared to helicopters that cost 10 times as much.

And it can fly low and slow, which is ideal for aerial surveillance.

"So we can go extremely slow and observe the area at low altitude. We can operate at 500 feet off the ground if we need to," Crow said.

The Sheriff's office is launching the airborne patrols now because burglaries from cars and homes often increase around Christmas.

With an airborne camera, deputies can get a better view. The airplane will be used for backing officers in the field - and looking in places where deputies can't see.

"We've helped recover stolen equipment that's hidden by trees, hidden from the road, we can see it easily from the sky," Crow said.

The Sheriff's department wants this to be the start of a regional aviation unit, based on the early success of this design.

The Sheriff's office plans to use the airplane mainly during daylight hours, on call as needed. Tulsa Police generally fly their helicopters at night.