HANGING OUT OVER L.A.

Cameraman J.T. Alpaugh is not like other helicopter news reporters who hover above Los Angeles searching for the big story.

For starters, he's the only chopper reporter still using a hand-held camera (the others use steadycams mounted on the helicopter's nose). When breaking news happens, Alpaugh - tethered with a harness - hangs out an open door, aims his camera and shoots.

Then there is this: Alpaugh is a cameraman who works for both a news station and the Los Angeles Police Department. More aiming and shooting.

Alpaugh, 27, of Simi Valley spends his days covering breaking news from the sky for KMEX (Channel 34), a local Spanish-language station. At night, he works as a tactical support reserve officer for LAPD's elite Air Support Division. That means he sits alongside a police helicopter pilot and, using sophisticated equipment, tracks things and people on the ground.

``I'm an adrenaline junkie,'' says the Van Nuys native, explaining his two jobs. ``I like the variety that news and police work offer. Things are always happening. It's an hour of sheer boredom surrounded by moments of sheer terror.''

In his five years at KMEX, Alpaugh has covered the infamous O.J. Simpson slow-speed chase, floods, fires and the Feb. 28 botched bank heist in North Hollywood. Well, he covered part of that, anyway.

``I missed all the shooting by the time we got overhead,'' he says. But he caught the search for a possible third suspect in which the cops knocked down a wall with a battering ram.

Being both a reserve cop and a news cameraman makes for a weird dichotomy, especially when covering police actions, he says.

``You got to stay focused on your (news) job. But you're worried about your fellow officers down there. It's a double-edged sword.''

During the North Hollywood shootout, that sword was especially edgy, as police told helicopters to get out of the area and news directors told reporters to get the story.

``He was facing the duality of being a journalist and an LAPD officer,'' says Jairo Marin, news director for KMEX.

In the end, concerns over safety always win out over the need to be a competitive journalist, Alpaugh says.

``No shot is worth getting anybody hurt,'' he says.

As a child, Alpaugh worked as an actor in commercials, which piqued his interest in television production. After high school, he became an intern at a local cable company working on public-access shows. To supplement his income, he became a free-lance videographer for local news stations.

His coverage of breaking police activities prompted him to enroll in the reserve program. He spent nine months attending the police academy before landing his reserve job with the air corps. The position pays $50 a month - not much for a guy who works an average of three nights a week.

``A lot of people have hobbies and spend a lot of money on them. (Police work) is my hobby. This is what I like doing. I like helping officers and helping the public. And they pay me for it.''

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Photo: ``I'm an adrenaline junkie. ... Things are always happening. It's an hour of sheer boredom surrounded by moments of sheer terror,'' says helicopter cameraman J.T. Alpaugh, 28, of his seat-of-the-pants work for television station KMEX.