Police Lieutenant Joe Santoro could never have imagined that he would fly an ultralight airplane or be part of a program that would become a world-first for aviation. Lieutenant Santoro didn't even like to fly as a passenger in a commercial airplanes, let alone pilot a single-seat ultralight for police air support. This is the true story of the Monterey Park police department's Ultralight Aircraft Police Patrol Program, the first of its kind in the world. It helped chase down many criminals and ultimately resulted in two Monterey Park ultralights hanging from the ceiling of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, alongside other famous airplanes like the SR-7 Blackbird, the Enola Gay, the Concorde, and the space shuttle Discovery. This story includes moments of sheer terror-engine failures, crashes, and the exceptional courage of our police officers as they trained to become pilots and then fought crime at 1,000 feet in the air.
In the early 1980s, then-Lieutenant Joe Santoro developed and managed the Monterey Park Police Department Ultralight Aircraft Patrol Program. This was the first use of ultralights in law enforcement in the world. After the program ended, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum requested two of the ultralights used in the program. They are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. During his professional career he served as an academic dean at Rio Hondo College, chief of police and deputy city manager for the city of Monrovia, California, and held the ranks of captain, lieutenant, sergeant, detective, and officer in the Monterey Park California Police Department. From 2011 to 2015 he was elected to the Glendora California city council and served as mayor, mayor pro tem, and council member. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a master's degree in public administration and a guest lecturer at local, state and national organizations on Community Policing, Asian Gangs/Cultural Issues, Police Innovation, Truancy, Mental Health Impacts on Law Enforcement, Strategic Planning, and Volunteerism. "Today, visitors to the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, can see two rare law enforcement ultralights displayed side-by-side. The aircraft tell a unique story about a brief time in aviation history when enthusiasm ran high, imaginations soared, and many people at the grassroots level of aviation believed that ultralights were not just toys but also valuable tools that pilots could use to accomplish real work previously done only by conventional aircraft." Russell Lee, Chair, Aeronautics Department, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
