ehill27
Short North
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Dear Mayor C.,
I've always been supportive of your efforts (at least the ones I've known about). I also believe that you are speaking the truth when you say that additional revenue is needed for the City, but this, this is appalling! You need to fix this.
How in the world did C-Bus end up with eight police helicopters?! Yes, two are for sale, but why in the world do we need more than two or three?!
3 more must go, or I vote no!
Sincerely,
A dismayed supporter
ehill27
Short North
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JonMyers wrote >>
75% of our city budget goes to police and fire. Evidently that's a lot higher percentage than other cities and evidently that's a good thing...
I'm not debating the value of law enforcement, or even the value of police helicopters for that matter. My gripe is limited solely to the number of helicopters, which even in the best financial times, seems excessive for a city of this size.
michaelcoyote
!seabus
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ehill27 wrote >>
How in the world did C-Bus end up with eight police helicopters?! Yes, two are for sale, but why in the world do we need more than two or three?!
Just a guess, but I'd say Chief Jackson was involved.
iwantyrskull
grndvw
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well that explains why every time i am around a situation where someone calls the cops, air support is on the scene before the phone call is complete. seriously, anybody else experienced that? those boys are fast. and numerous, apparently.
NerosNeptune
Goodale Park
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Why not just keep them and proclaim ourselves as having the greatest City Air Force in the country? We could be the de facto host of an annual Police Helicopter Pilot Association convention.
buckeyeaviator
Harrison West
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I rode last year on one of the choppers for a nightime patrol. I was told that one helicopter is always in the air from noon-4am everyday, flying two hour shifts, or patrols. They are scary fast, as sometimes we were doing almost 160mph over the ground en route to calls for support, which puts virtually anywhere in the city only a few minutes away for the chopper. Obviously this is a huge benefit for the police on the ground, but 8 does seem excessive. From what I know the helicopters are quite maintenance intensive (especially when the 16 hours of patrols can be split between just 2 choppers), so that is a reason to have quite a few, but I think 5-6 would probably be sufficient.
Core_Models
Columbus
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3.6M on the Columbus Air Cavalry definitely seems a bit much when we're talking about police and fire layoffs...
buckeyeaviator
Harrison West
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It is, in theory, open to the public, or at least Columbus taxpayers. However, they only like to provide rides to folks who are in aviation or law enforcement. In the words of the guys I flew with they didn't want to police chopper to turn into "a carnival ride". It is also quite intense, especially when orbiting crime scenes, and if you are even slightly sensitive to motion sickness this will bring it out, which is also another reason why they may limit rides. I work as a flight instructor and happen to know the former commander of the unit so it worked out that I got to go.
Core_Models
Columbus
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Walker wrote >>
Is this something for Mayor Coleman to address, or something for the new Police Chief to address?
Coleman's the one talking about cutting police for budgetary concerns, so I'd assume he could cut helicopters ;)
True M, but the article also runs comparisons to Indianapolis & Dallas (4), Austin & Charlotte (2), Louisville (1), etc. so it seems a pretty fair concern.
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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6 copters may seem excessive (2 for sale.. keep that in mind) but the interview in the article hints at something that is not specifically stated when it is stated that using less than 6 would "wear out" the aircraft. It may be disingenuous to merely hint at what is ment by that then to print it outright.
Aircraft are rated by flight hours in a similar way that cars are valued by miles driven. If the police were to operate with the bare minimum number required for the desired 16 hours/day coverage (actually I had heard that had been dropped to 12, but maybe I heard wrong) then 2-3 choppers would be absorbing 5800 flight hours/year (and all the associated maintenence costs required at certain hourly intervals for each). If one spreads that out to 8 choppers (2 older ones are being sold... remember this... it's important) then those choppers will be HALF AS OLD when they are resold which equals greater resale value.
The resale on these things is a lot of money, and it MAY be, but I do not know for sure, that they are planning on using aircraft with higher resale value after a few years to allow the city to continue upgrading the fleet less expensively than having to totally replace aircraft that have worn out. A planned turnover of a percentage (1/4) instead of worn-out replacements of 1/2 or 2/3 of a fleet that are nearly worthless.
I.E. saving taxpayer dollars.
The value of the aircraft themselves becomes painfully obvious to anyone who simply listens to the police scanner for a few days... VERY rapid response + the ability to stay on top of something and pin someone to track or limit their movements = more crooks busted. Most chopper runs are burgler alarms and "xxx in progress" type calls, including following reported drunk drivers to avoid high speed chases (one of which that I overheard turned out to be a certain ex OSU footballer with a carload of guns) the rest I have heard have been calls to help search an area for someone. I have heard on more than one occasion the chopper arrive well in advance of officers in cars, light up the area to make sure nobody can leave without being seen and direct officers to where they are hiding (in one case I heard a convenience store near my house) to make an arrest.
No... There are a number of things NOT reported in that article: The number of apprehensions assisted by aircraft, the estimated resale values of the aircraft, the estimated replacement cost of new aircraft... etc...
in conclusion, this is an article with no real facts except the cost of operations of the aircraft unit, and comparisons to other cities that may or may not be "apples to oranges" comparisons attempting to draw a conclusion that is unsupported by the information reported.
More information is required to form an valid and informed opinion on this. I personally would like to see a more detailed reporting of this before forming any conclusions.
buckeyeaviator
Harrison West
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Mike, You are absolutely right on the value of the helicopters. I was slightly skeptical of the true value of the choppers before riding along. I went up on a Friday night in July from 10pm-12am, which was incredibly active. We were able to track down 3 stolen cars, which led to the arrest of 5 individuals alone. As well as provide support (and one damn big light) to officers on the ground. I really hope that the unit isn't changed despite the outcome of the tax levy because it is a great tool that is used. I would think there are other areas to trim the fat before the choppers.
somertimeoh
Harrison West
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I like knowing the ghetto birds are watching over me though I understand the concern. If my house is getting broken in to, the helicopter flying overhead isn't really going to protect me like a dood in a cruiser could.
RMM, any idea why they would add to the fleet before turning over the 2 choppers they are currently trying to sell? Is there a magic # of air time they wouldn't want to go over and risk a significant decrease in value? Do we have any ideas when the last one was purchased? If they are all a few years old I'm not as concerned. If one was purchased in the last 12 months or so, I'm a bit perplexed.
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