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Primrose Gets Special Visit from WCPD Aviation Unit
The students at Primrose Elementary School could hardly contain their excitement when the police helicopter hovered and landed on the field behind the school.
Wednesday was the annual visit from the Westchester County Police Department’s Aviation Unit. Primrose students and staff welcomed Officer Pilots Sean Lonergan and Rich Pucillo, who spoke to second graders about their unique jobs within the WCPD.
Officer Lonergan spoke to the students about some of the specialized services provided by the Aviation Unit including surveillance, search and rescue, and support for their fellow patrol units. He told students that the Aviation Unit might be called to assist with rescue of lost hikers, helping drop buckets of water on brush fires, or aerial surveillance to help police on the ground locate a perpetrator in a crime.
Students also earned about thermal imaging surveillance – a camera based on the front of the helicopter that helps police locate a person based on their heat signature.
Officer Lonergan answered some student questions about helicopter speed, how the thermal camera is operated, and how to track people who don’t know their location.
“The biggest part of our job is communicating with people,” Officer Lonergan said. The pilots communicate with police on the ground during search and rescue operations as well as during routine flights patrolling all over Westchester County. He said the Aviation Unit aids all emergency services in Westchester County.
(June 2, 2022)