The mission of the Baton Rouge Operations Base is to enhance public safety by providing effective aerial support to the Louisiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies in South Louisiana. The base operates from the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Air Support Unit currently has three Pilots assigned to the Baton Rouge Operations Base able to respond to police emergencies twenty-four hours a day in a 30 parish area which encompasses the parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermillion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. These parishes are in Patrol Troop A, Troop B, Troop C, Troop I, and Troop L, as well as, Criminal Investigations Division – Region 1 and Criminal Investigations Division – Region 2.
One Cessna 182 and one Cessna 172 airplane, and two Bell 430, one Bell 206L-IV Long Ranger, one Bell 206B-III Jet Ranger, and one Bell OH-58A+ helicopters are stationed at the Baton Rouge Operations Base for rapid deployment. The helicopters are configured for Night Vision Goggle (NVG) operations and is equipped with a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera and Night Sun searchlight. These seven aircraft allow the Pilots stationed at the Baton Rouge Operations Base to conduct a wide-variety of missions, including dignitary transportation, helicopter demonstrations, disaster relief, criminal surveillance, photo reconnaissance flights, marijuana eradications, manhunts, speed enforcement, SWAT operations, downed aircraft searches, missing persons searches, and other emergency police response missions.