Why LAPD Used A Helicopter Sniper For The First Time

LOS ANGELES, CA — Two weeks after the LAPD's first-ever use of a sniper in a helicopter to shoot a suspect, the Board of Police Commissioners was briefed Tuesday on the criteria the department uses for implementing the tactic.

LAPD Assistant Chief Beatrice Girmala, director of the Office of Special Operations, said the department first developed the ability to use SWAT snipers from a helicopter in 2004 and had come close to using it four times since 2012. But until May 8, the helicopters never left the ground.

Specific criteria is needed for the LAPD to consider using the "aerial platform," Girmala said, and there is a multi-layered command and control process implemented when the department makes the decision to use it.

A SWAT sniper shot and killed burglary suspect Anthony Soderberg, 29, of Shadow Hills near the 11300 block of Alethea Drive after a standoff with LAPD officers.

Police said Soderberg barricaded himself inside a home and shot at officers before being flushed out with tear gas and fleeing out the back of the residence, where he tumbled down a ravine before being shot.

RELATED: LAPD Sniper Kills Suspect From Helicopter, A First In Department History

Beck told the Los Angeles Times that the house was at the top of a hill, surrounded by brush and debris, which created a "very difficult" location for SWAT officers, contributing to the decision to bring in the officers trained to fire from a helicopter.

"The suspect definitely had high ground at all of the ground officers, was firing indiscriminately at them and actually fired at the helicopter, we believe," Beck said.

According to Girmala's report, which the commissioners requested after the helicopter shooting, factors considered by the LAPD include if there is a crime of violence; if the incident presents extraordinary and challenging circumstances above and beyond what would normally be dealt with; and if the suspect is using an elevated platform, a challenging venue, or terrain to his or her advantage over officers, making traditional approaches by ground unsafe.

Girmala also said the department would consider using the aerial platform on a suspect in a vehicle if weapons of mass destruction, explosives or superior weaponry was involved.

The department also has a multi-layered approach to command and control when using the aerial platform, Girmala said, as the commanding officers of the Air Support Division, Metropolitan Division and Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau must all sign off on its use, as well as the incident commander on the ground.

Girmala stressed that using the aerial platform "is not pre-approved deadly force," and that "the same policy on lethal force applies."

City News Service; Photo by Mfield via Wikimedia Commons.