Cops track bad guys with heat-sensitive eye

MAT-SU -- Burglars in the getaway car had temporarily outdistanced a pursing Wasilla Police Department car, so the criminals took refuge in a Wasilla neighborhood driveway. They turned off their lights, figuring they had eluded the law.

But the police came along soon afterward, driving slowly down the street. Officer Tim Jessen aimed what appeared to be a video camera at each vehicle they came to. When he reached the suspects' car, Jessen saw what he was looking for -- bright white images radiating from the engine and wheels.

The burglars might as well have put a flashing neon sign saying "criminals are here" above their car. Jessen knew the vehicle hadn't been parked long because of the intense light he saw through the lens of his thermal imager.

"It was just glowing hot," Jessen said.

Police quickly arrested the suspects still hiding in the car, and chalked up another victory for the department's special weapon.

The hand-held device was acquired six years ago with a $13,000 federal grant. It measures heat radiating from surfaces of wood, metal, even snow. Jessen says it's been invaluable in night-time tracking of fugitives. It also aids in some motor-vehicle collision investigations by determining a car's skid distance when no marks are on the pavement.

"There are so many ways you can use it," Jessen said.

It's so accurate in revealing heat transfer that it can show the location of studs in a wall. Or, more importantly for police, where excessive heat is being emitted from a house -- a possible tip-off to a marijuana grow operation. It delineates small compartments in vehicles which may be used to conceal drugs, Jessen said.

Officer safety is enhanced by the imager, too, because it allows police to detect the presence of someone who may be hiding in bushes next to a house or in dense woods.

Jessen recalled a 2002 attempted murder investigation at Mile 3.5 Knik-Goose Bay Road in which the gunman was discovered hiding under a car, thanks to the imager. As a result, police nabbed Andrew Coffman and charged him with shooting 75-year-old Mary Roberts. Coffman later agreed to serve 18 years in prison under terms of a plea bargain.

"Here was an active shooter and we knew where he was," Jessen said.

The imager has allowed Wasilla police to find weapons tossed from a car during a chase, and to track people on the run.

"I've gone into the woods numerous times and come back with the bad guy because of it," Jessen said. "It takes all the hiding places away."

He and Wasilla police officer Kelly Swihart are the only ones in the department certified to use the unit. Besides special training, which Jessen received in Houston, Texas, regular practice hones his skill.

Palmer Police Department has a thermal imager of its own, said officer Donna Anthony. And the Alaska State Police's Palmer office recently acquired an upgraded version which uses colors to reflect different temperatures.

Anthony said Palmer police once used their imager to track a suspect from Palmer Fishhook Road near the Glenn Highway to an apartment complex near the Palmer McDonald's. The effort paid off with an arrest.

Sometimes imagers are used to rescue people instead of to apprehend them. Jessen said Wasilla police gave a demonstration of their imager soon after it was received. The training session was held in Anchorage and was attended by some Anchorage police.

Only a couple of days later, an APD sergeant contacted Wasilla police because his father-in-law was overdue from a trail hike. Wasilla police supplied the imager and searchers found the man in an hour. He'd fallen and couldn't get up, which was serious because of low temperatures and the man's health condition.

"I really believe it saved his life," Jessen said of the imager.

He believes it's one of the biggest advances in equipment that police have gotten in several years.

"The thing I enjoy doing most is tracking someone at night," Jessen said. "It's a great tool for that. But it's use is really only limited by our imagination."