Covering almost 17,000 square kilometers (10,560 square miles) that includes famous nature reserves such as the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe and pyramid lake, Washoe County is also known for its “Biggest Little City in the World”— Reno. The city is known for its many casinos, but also for the renowned Reno-Air Races and attracts thousands of tourists. Therefore, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office relies heavily on its airborne law enforcement unit called RAVEN.
The Regional Aviation Enforcement Unit (RAVEN) was established in 1996 when funding became available to set up a dedicated unit to conduct airborne law enforcement, firefighting and search and rescue (SAR). The first two helicopters were officially registered in January 1997, being two former Army Bell OH-58A+ Kiowas (RAVEN 1 and RAVEN 2) and later joined by some Bell UH-1Hs and HH-1Hs of which two are still serving with the unit: RAVEN 3 and RAVEN 7.
“The helicopters are on loan from the military LESO program (Law Enforcement Support Office) This 1033 program (formerly the 1208 program) allows the Secretary of Defense to transfer surplus Department of Defense material to national law enforcement agencies. “We have to maintain these aircraft to military standards in case they have to be returned to the military when phased out of service,” says Deputy Joseph Baumann, RAVEN’s chief pilot. Currently RAVEN has one full-time pilot, three part-time pilots, one full-time mechanic and two part-time mechanics…