Police Helicopter

Baltimore police introduced yesterday a new, sleek mobile command post to respond to emergencies ranging from a missing child or hostage situation to a train derailment or, in the worst case, a terrorist attack. Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said the high-tech vehicle will make police more nimble in everyday law enforcement and "show the flag" in troubled areas. "It takes us from the 19th to the 21st century. We can actually go to the scene and do our work. Anything we do now we can do from this post," Norris said as he described its capabilities.

In Baltimore City Grand jury indicts Zollicoffer's nephew on drug charges Lawrence Hutchings, whose drug arrest by Baltimore police led to a confrontation between the officers and his uncle, City Solicitor Thurman W. Zollicoffer Jr., has been indicted on charges of possession, possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of cocaine. The indictment was returned by a grand jury in Baltimore County, where a special assistant state's attorney, Frank C. Meyer Jr., has been assigned to prosecute the case.

Mayor Martin O'Malley complained yesterday that the Baltimore Police Department's helicopter unit, relaunched with much fanfare as a crime-fighting tool six months ago, is not flying as much as he had hoped. The unit of four helicopters regularly flies between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. from Tuesday through Saturday - far fewer hours than the department's stated goal of having a chopper patrol Baltimore's skies from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. O'Malley said the helicopters are not flying because there is a "management problem at the Police Department," adding that Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris "needs to straighten it out because the city is paying a lot of money for it."

A prisoner scheduled for trial next week on charges including attempted murder escaped from the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on Jennifer Road yesterday afternoon by scaling a 20-foot-high razor-wire fence. He left behind a shoe and a trail of blood, authorities said. Police were searching last night for the 23-year-old fugitive, Derrick Dion Jones, whose last address was in the North County community of Pumphrey. He escaped from a recreation yard by climbing a razor-wire fence, jumping onto the roof of a housing unit and climbing down another razor-wire fence into a passage between the jail perimeter and West Annapolis fire station.

A prisoner scheduled for trial next week on charges including attempted murder escaped from the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on Jennifer Road yesterday afternoon by scaling a 20-foot-high razor-wire fence. He left behind a shoe and a trail of blood, authorities said. Police were searching last night for the 23-year-old fugitive, Derrick Dion Jones, whose last address was in the 200 block of Zepplin Ave. in the North Arundel community of Pumphrey. He escaped from a recreation yard by climbing a razor-wire fence, jumping onto the roof of a housing unit and climbing down another razor-wire fence into a passage between the jail perimeter and West Annapolis fire station.

Board of Estimates OKs $11 million police helicopter contract The Board of Estimates approved yesterday an $11.2 million contract for the purchase and maintenance of four new helicopters, giving the city a police helicopter unit for the first time since a fatal 1998 crash. American Eurocopter Corp. helicopters, which police say could be airborne daily by mid-April, are expected to improve drug enforcement and cut accidents caused by high-speed chases. The EC 120 helicopters, which are to be equipped with surveillance technology, cost $4.9 million, and a 10-year contract for mandatory replacement parts costs $6.3 million.

With the help of some creative borrowing, the city has found $11.2 million to purchase four new helicopters and maintenance parts to put a police helicopter back in the air for the first time since a fatal 1998 crash. Mayor Martin O'Malley had made it a priority to find money to restart the helicopter unit, which police say could be airborne daily by mid-April. The city's Board of Estimates is scheduled to vote on the purchase at its weekly meeting tomorrow. The deal to purchase the American Eurocopter Corp.

WASHINGTON - Amtrak has begun to police its tracks from the skies with a helicopter leased with money forfeited by drug dealers. The Amtrak police put a sergeant and a hired pilot aboard the helicopter, the Bell Jet Ranger, to ride above the rails from Boston to Washington. While the helicopter's primary mission will be policing this stretch, which is Amtrak's busiest, the helicopter could be called upon by Amtrak police in other regions, said Ron Frazier, chief of the railroad's police department.

Two rallies are scheduled in south county - one in Shady Side and another on the Annapolis City Dock - for "National Night Out," tomorrow's crime prevention event in which neighbors turn on porch lights as a show of solidarity against crime and drug abuse. Anne Arundel County Police will be at the Lula Scott Community Center in Shady Side for an event from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. that is co-sponsored by the Churchton-Shady Side community group, Renno's market and local churches. "It's a great opportunity for neighbors to get together and meet each other," said Deborah Mackell, the group's vice president.

PHILADELPHIA -- The number of citizens who want dibs on Norman Johnston's $40,000 reward seems to be growing faster than the escaped killer's whiskers did during his 19 days on the run. But no one, it seems, thought to call the appropriate tip lines to get a code that would make him or her eligible for the cash. So it might make one wonder: If a killer is on your doorstep knocking over flower pots, whom do you call first? Should you call Crime Stoppers first to get your code?