Narrative:

I was the pilot of a news gathering helicopter dispatched to gather video of a store robbery where a police officer had been shot and two suspects were on the run. I contacted a nearby airport's tower and advised that I was en-route to a scene on the eastern edge of their airspace. The controller advised me the state police had requested that the tower keep the airspace clear of traffic. I asked the tower if there were any tfrs in effect and he said no. I said that I would check with my news desk to see how they wish to proceed and I'd get back to him. I told my photographer to call 'the desk' while I called the closest FSS to double check tfrs. Before I had the opportunity to call the tower back the controller advised me to remain clear of their class 'D' airspace. I acknowledged and changed my course; departing the class 'D'. I overheard the state police helicopter say there was a guy on the ground with a 'long gun'.at this point in the flight I was class 'G' airspace hovering south of a nearby golf course. I had the state police helicopter in sight circling the scene and was maintaining visual separation. The controller then advised me that the state police wanted me to depart the area. I again queried the controller about any tfrs; but the controller again instructed me to depart the area to the south. I complied with their request while I made another radio call to the FSS and requested information regarding tfrs in my immediate area. The briefer replied that there were no published tfr's at the time but advised there were not any flight restrictions in an area to the north. The controller cleared me to fly north but advised the state police helicopter that I was en-route to his location. I arrived at the north side of the area and came to a hover less that 1 NM from the actual scene at 700 ft AGL. I had the state police helicopter in sight and was maintaining visual separation. I observed the police helicopter in an orbit at 1;100-1;200 AGL when he passed in front of me and almost directly above me. The state police helicopter pilot advised me that he was passing over me and that I must depart the area immediately. At no point did I feel that the police helicopter was dangerously close to me and no evasive action was taken.right after the officer instructed me to leave ATC also instructed me to leave because a tfr was about to go into effect. I complied with the instructions. As I flew southeast I queried the controller about the tfr dimensions and fdc NOTAM number and he replied that they were waiting on a fax.I flew in a large circle around the city then headed northeast. Upon departing the class 'B' I contacted approach and queried the controller about the tfr; its number and dimensions. He told me that there was indeed a tfr and to 'stay out of there' to which I replied affirmative. Upon landing the ATC advised me of the fdc NOTAM number; the location of the tfr; its dimensions and effective times. This incident comes only three weeks after a similar situation (shooting) that took place within the class 'B'. No tfr was issued; however; ATC again instructed me that I must remain clear of the airspace for police activity. After this flight I called the tower and spoke with the supervisor on duty. He informed me that he made a decision to have me move based on police information which in his opinion impacted the safety of the flight.the next day I called the tower again and; luckily for me; I spoke with the previous supervisor's supervisor. I explained what had happened and asked him to reference the regulation which grants ATC the authority to have aircraft move due to a law enforcement request. He said that he would get back to me. He eventually did get back to me and said that he spoke with his superiors at the tower; the local FSDO; the state aeronautics commission as well as the state police and he informed me that everyone came to the agreement that ATC does not have the authority to have an aircraft move or depart the airspace due to a request from law enforcement.this leaves me somewhat confused. This supervisor is telling me that they do not have the authority to have me move yet the local area tower controller is instructing me to remain clear of their airspace. As far as I know; the state police have no authority over aircraft while in flight. I ultimately have a customer and employer to answer to and I am just trying to operate legally and as safely as possible.in order to prevent this sort of scenario in the future I feel that three things need to happen. 1. The local airport's ATC staff must be fully aware of their responsibility and limitations regarding law enforcement requests. 2. Electronic news gathering pilots must be fully briefed on how to deal with police requests. 3. The local law enforcement agencies must communicate effectively with the news stations and electronic news gathering pilots and without delay; relay these potential perceived threats from the ground or in the air.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The pilot of an 'electronic news gathering' helicopter expressed concern that area law enforcement agencies were improperly demanding that their operations over criminal activities and associated police actions be restricted by ATC. The reporter contends that a TFR must first be activated before news agencies can be excluded from the vicinity of any news worthy event; including those that put them potentially in harm's way from criminal activites.

Narrative: I was the pilot of a news gathering helicopter dispatched to gather video of a store robbery where a police officer had been shot and two suspects were on the run. I contacted a nearby airport's Tower and advised that I was en-route to a scene on the eastern edge of their airspace. The Controller advised me the State Police had requested that the Tower keep the airspace clear of traffic. I asked the Tower if there were any TFRs in effect and he said no. I said that I would check with my News Desk to see how they wish to proceed and I'd get back to him. I told my Photographer to call 'The Desk' while I called the closest FSS to double check TFRs. Before I had the opportunity to call the Tower back the Controller advised me to remain clear of their Class 'D' airspace. I acknowledged and changed my course; departing the Class 'D'. I overheard the State Police helicopter say there was a guy on the ground with a 'long gun'.At this point in the flight I was class 'G' airspace hovering south of a nearby golf course. I had the State Police helicopter in sight circling the scene and was maintaining visual separation. The Controller then advised me that the State Police wanted me to depart the area. I again queried the Controller about any TFRs; but the Controller again instructed me to depart the area to the south. I complied with their request while I made another radio call to the FSS and requested information regarding TFRs in my immediate area. The Briefer replied that there were no published TFR's at the time but advised there were not any flight restrictions in an area to the north. The Controller cleared me to fly north but advised the State Police helicopter that I was en-route to his location. I arrived at the north side of the area and came to a hover less that 1 NM from the actual scene at 700 FT AGL. I had the State Police helicopter in sight and was maintaining visual separation. I observed the Police helicopter in an orbit at 1;100-1;200 AGL when he passed in front of me and almost directly above me. The State Police helicopter pilot advised me that he was passing over me and that I MUST DEPART THE AREA IMMEDIATELY. At no point did I feel that the Police helicopter was dangerously close to me and no evasive action was taken.Right after the officer instructed me to leave ATC also instructed me to leave because a TFR was about to go into effect. I complied with the instructions. As I flew southeast I queried the Controller about the TFR dimensions and FDC NOTAM number and he replied that they were waiting on a fax.I flew in a large circle around the City then headed northeast. Upon departing the Class 'B' I contacted Approach and queried the Controller about the TFR; its number and dimensions. He told me that there was indeed a TFR and to 'Stay out of there' to which I replied affirmative. Upon landing the ATC advised me of the FDC NOTAM number; the location of the TFR; its dimensions and effective times. This incident comes only three weeks after a similar situation (shooting) that took place within the Class 'B'. No TFR was issued; however; ATC again instructed me that I must remain clear of the airspace for police activity. After this flight I called the Tower and spoke with the Supervisor on duty. He informed me that he made a decision to have me move based on police information which in his opinion impacted the safety of the flight.The next day I called the Tower again and; luckily for me; I spoke with the previous Supervisor's Supervisor. I explained what had happened and asked him to reference the regulation which grants ATC the authority to have aircraft move due to a Law Enforcement request. He said that he would get back to me. He eventually did get back to me and said that he spoke with his superiors at the Tower; the local FSDO; the State Aeronautics Commission as well as the State Police and he informed me that everyone came to the agreement that ATC does not have the authority to have an aircraft move or depart the airspace due to a request from Law Enforcement.This leaves me somewhat confused. This Supervisor is telling me that they do not have the authority to have me move yet the local area Tower Controller is instructing me to remain clear of their airspace. As far as I know; The State Police have no authority over aircraft while in flight. I ultimately have a customer and employer to answer to and I am just trying to operate legally and as safely as possible.In order to prevent this sort of scenario in the future I feel that three things need to happen. 1. The local airport's ATC staff must be fully aware of their responsibility and limitations regarding Law Enforcement requests. 2. Electronic news gathering pilots must be fully briefed on how to deal with police requests. 3. The local Law Enforcement Agencies must communicate effectively with the news stations and electronic news gathering pilots and without delay; relay these potential perceived threats from the ground or in the air.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.