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July 28, 2004
Fleeing Thief Tracked Down with Bullard Thermal Imager
After three break-ins in a one-hour time span on Friday night, April 20, police officers in Stanford, Ky., used a Bullard thermal imager to aid in arresting a suspect who fled from police in the dark.
Two suspects from Somerset, Ky., broke into Dollar General, McDonalds and Save-A-Lot in this central Kentucky city of about 3,000. The suspects stole merchandise at Dollar General and vandalized the other two businesses before being identified near the Save-A-Lot. One suspect was apprehended by Detective Rick Edwards and Officer Paul Blanton, while the other fled on foot. Off-duty police officers were called in to set up a perimeter watch in the area.
On his way to the scene, Police Chief Keith Middleton radioed to request that their thermal imager be brought to the scene to help find the fleeing suspect. Jim Steberl, who was guarding the perimeter from another vantage point at the base of the hill, thought he saw a shadow moving on the rail bed above. Training the imager on the area, the Chief and Sgt. Greg Hill immediately saw the suspect.
Steberl started after the suspect, following him through a wooded area and to a barn loft. The suspect jumped out of the barn, ran across Main Street and across two fences until Steberl again caught up with him. He was placed under arrest, but escaped again through the creek. Steberl followed him and caught him again, wrestling in the mud to subdue him until other officers arrived. From the time he was spotted on the rail bed, it took about 20 minutes to apprehend him.
“In the future, we’ll know to call for the thermal imager right away if we’re pursuing someone,” Cpl. Steberl said. “It was really helpful. It worked great for this application.”
Clearly, the Bullard TACSIGHT thermal imager is effective in assisting law enforcement officers in the location of fugitives. Humans and animals can be identified at great distances using TACSIGHT. The difference between their body temperature and the surrounding environment is more than enough to create a visual image on the large screen display of TACSIGHT. Camouflage or surrounding brush has virtually no effect on the ability of TACSIGHT to detect the heat signature of the object or person you are looking for.
For more information on Bullard Tacsight's thermal imager, please visit www.bullard.com/tacsight
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