LAW ENFORCEMENT AWARD For contributions to the promotion and advancement of helicopters in support of law enforcement activities
Matt Rogers Sergeant, Michigan State Police Aviation Unit, Lansing, Michigan, USA
Growing up, Matt Rogers dreamt of being a state trooper like his dad. As he got older, his interests turned to his grandfather’s profession, aviation. He earned his airplane private pilot license in high school and, after graduation, enrolled in Western Michigan University’s aviation technology program. Yet, Rogers couldn’t shake his police-work dreams. So he left college and enrolled in Michigan State Police Recruit School in 1995. During the next 19 years, Rogers worked assignments including road patrol, narcotics, training academy, drive track, and desk sergeant. Ten, in 2014, an opportunity came to blend his two passions. Tat year, Rogers was selected to join the aviation unit as the police
department’s first tactical flight officer (TFO). Until this time, the Michigan State Police (MSP) had operated its fleet of helicopters and airplanes with two pilots. In his new position, Rogers would help develop the MSP’s TFO program from the ground up. After attending the Los Angeles Police Department’s TFO school, he came back home to help establish an extensive curriculum to train all incoming MSP TFOs. Rogers then focused on building the MSP’s UAS program. While the
SGT Matt Rogers
aviation unit had already purchased an Aeryon SkyRanger, the UAS program had yet to be created. Trough the work of Rogers and his team, the MSP became the country’s first police agency to receive a statewide certificate of authorization for UAS operations in uncontrolled airspace. He soon added to the authorization approvals for day and night operations in controlled airspace, including emergency exceptions into Class B airspace. Again, Rogers built the program from the ground up, creating a framework that would not only ensure unit and personal growth, but also create
opportunities for a diverse UAS mission set. As the program grew, additional UAS platforms and personnel were added and the missions were expanded from crime and crash-scene documentation to tactical overwatch and building searches. “Te big thing for our unit is being able to deploy the best tool for the
job,” Rogers explains. “If someone calls for an aerial search, by having helicopters, airplanes, and UASs in our unit, we can present the best tool for that specific mission. Having UASs in the aviation unit has been instrumental in providing that service. Tat isn’t something that’s necessarily done in other agencies.” Rogers meticulously developed processes and procedures for the UAS
program that exceeded all FAA and legal requirements while ensuring full privacy protection for the citizens the agency serves. He also became a founding member of the National Council on Public Safety UAS and held a governor-appointed position on Michigan’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force. Along with this work, he has spoken at conferences and given demonstrations to help other agencies use UAS effectively. “Our team’s training sessions and seminars give us the chance to talk about policies and
“If someone calls for an aerial search, by having helicopters, airplanes, and UASs, we can present the best tool for the mission. Having UASs has been
instrumental in that effort.” Sponsored by
procedures, share what worked and what didn’t, and explain how to implement this new technology in a way that [honors] a person’s constitutional rights,” Rogers says. “We as law enforcement don’t want to create bad case law that could make manned aircraft police work more difficult. I’m always eager to emphasize the importance of that.”
36 ROTOR MARCH 2022
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