Cmdr. Michael Bitton: He'd rather volunteer "than win the lottery"

In November, Cmdr. Michael Bitton received a troubling phone call. The helicopters and equipment used by the nonprofit organization he leads had to be removed from a hangar in Kenosha -- in four days!

A self-proclaimed perennial optimist, Bitton found a new home for everything, working with the many volunteers who help him run AIR-ONE Emergency Response Coalition.

Following a suggestion by Winthrop Harbor Chief of Police Joel H. Brumlik, Bitton found hangar space in Waukegan, donated to him on the spot by Landmark Aviation for free.

Bitton, 54, is the guiding force and a founding member of AIR-ONE, spending 30 to 50 hours  weekly volunteering for the group besides working as a commander at the Police Department of Winthrop Harbor.

Through AIR-ONE, law-enforcers and other public servants use helicopters when pursuing felons or missing persons such as children or an Alzheimer’s patient who has wandered away from home.

Most recently, Bitton was walking the woods looking for a local police officer who took his own life, said his brother, Dan Bitton.  Michael "has done that sort of thing countless times. Anytime there comes a call about a missing person, he'll be out there in the thick of it, leading the way."
AIR-ONE is important to Michael Bitton because, "At  3 a.m., when some mother wakes up and can't find her child, we want to be able to help. We want to get on the computer, find a crew and get the helicopter out there. When we can help, there's no better feeling than that. I'd rather do this than win the lottery."

Doing this – volunteering – comes from how he was raised, Bitton said. His mother and father emigrated from Israel to Wisconsin when he was an infant. He grew up in Wisconsin hearing stories of his father and his grandfather’s work as police officers in Portugal. Today, Bitton has children and grandchildren of his own.

Bitton came to law enforcement a little later than most, he said. He was helping his father run a business in Woodstock, which closed in 1999.

That’s when his brother, Dan Bitton, a part-time police officer in Winthrop Harbor, introduced him to police chief Brumlik. Michael was hired to do the department’s website, and soon became a part-time officer, attended the police academy and began to work full-time. He was later promoted to commander.

He said being a police officer comes from “a desire to be in a position to help people facing some of their worst times.”

He recalls helping a man who had beaten his girlfriend. “We got to the scene and the man had fled. Then we received a call that he had attempted suicide.” They found him, and Bitton accompanied him to the hospital. “He had slit his wrists,” Bitton said.

“It was crowded and we sat there for four hours. During those hours, I was trying to persuade him to go into a psychiatric ward and get the help he needed. The hospital wouldn’t take him so I drove him in my squad car to Lake Forest where they would take him.”

A year later, a man walked up to him at the Winthrop Harbor police station and said, “I want you to know you saved my life.” Bitton didn’t recognize him at first until the man reminded him of that incident a year ago. Since that time, the man got a job, stopped using drugs and became a good citizen, Bitton said.

Brumlik said "Bitton has always been one of the best performers in the police department, and he does equally as well volunteering for AIR-ONE."
He added, "He gets us going and keeps us going. He's got a lot of good experience in the business sector that's really helpful."

AIR-ONE began three years after Bitton became a police officer. A man donated his helicopter to the Winthrop Harbor Police Department, which then offered the helicopter’s service to local agencies who needed it for missions. Experienced pilots and tactical flight officers from various police and sheriff departments trained as volunteers.

Bitton has been instrumental in raising the funds and securing volunteers to keep the coalition growing –  and with its recent move from Kenosha to Lake County, the Lake County sheriff’s office is getting involved. When he’s not working, as with many of the volunteers, Bitton is at the hangar, typing on the computer or out training or giving presentations on AIR-ONE.

Because of his diligent work, AIR-ONE now has nine helicopters stationed throughout Illinois and the southern Wisconsin area ready to be used by more than 100 volunteers from local, regional and state law-enforcement agencies.

Dan Bitton said, “We wouldn’t have any of that if my brother wasn’t there to assemble all the people and do all that goes with (running AIR-ONE).”

To make AIR-ONE even more effective,  Micahel Bitton, Dan Bitton and Brunlik among others are working to create a space at Landmark Aviation to be manned 24-7 by volunteers.

Carpet has been donated; volunteers have painted and now Bitton is looking for funds to get some bunk beds and a television in an upstairs apartment.
"I'm  always amazed at the outstanding group of people who volunteer to go on missions and help with training," he said. "It's the volunteers, all the volunteers. They never hesitate, even when called at 3 a.m.,"  just as Bitton said he won't hesitate no matter how many times he gets calls, whether false alarms or not, to go out and find a missing child.