Friday, February 09, 2007

EYE IN THE SKY


The other day we heard these guys on the zone. They were letting the troops know that they were available for request and no request too small.

Helicopters flown by Air Support include three Bell Jet Ranger helicopters and a Eurocopter A-Star helicopter. Staffed 24 hours a day, this high flying unit handled 1,466 calls for service in 2005 and was instrumental in 286 arrests, 68 assist other agency calls, the recovery of 55 vehicles and the eradication of marijuana plants.
If you were new to Chicago you might of thought the following described the Chicago Police Departments Aviation Unit. In fact this is a description of the Memphis Police Department's Air Support Unit.
A little research and we found that Nashville Metro P.D. has 3 Bell Jet Ranger helicopters. Tampa P.D. boast 3 Bell Jet Rangers along with 2 military OH-6 (little birds) and 2 fixed wing airplanes.The LAPD with the largest Air Unit in the world has a total of 17 various models and 1 airplane. NYPD also has a large aviation unit but their website gives no insight to the number of aircraft in the fleet.
Cities from medium to large have aviation units and now Chicago can boast about its lone helicopter. Welcome to the new millennium

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tucson AZ pd also has 2 helicopters. The pilots are sworn Tucson police officers and are a great bunch of guys. They actually took me up for a ride/fly along and what a trip it was. They assist on jobs and are actually assigned by their dispatchers to jobs. They are a great asset. Think about it. They go to burglar alarms and check the roofs, assist on fleeing vehicles, suspicious persons, foot pursuits and many other things that I'm not mentioning. Worth every penny and then some!

Anonymous said...

Chicago is very behind the times!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

what percentage of CPD members are detectives? What percent are in other departments? What percentage of CPD are supervisors? What are the percentages in other Departments? Here is some home work for you. Lets compare the shit that matters to the troops not the 7 guys who get to fly around above all of the bull shit.

SECOND CITY SARGE said...

Anonymous said...
what percentage of CPD members are detectives? What percent are in other departments? What percentage of CPD are supervisors? What are the percentages in other Departments? Here is some home work for you. Lets compare the shit that matters to the troops not the 7 guys who get to fly around above all of the bull shit.

The percentages of dicks to patrolmen and patrolmen to supervisors is something to look into and would be a good post, thanks for the suggestion.

Comparing percentages to other departments would be an excellent post. Thank you for the suggestion.
I do take exception however with your notion that this subject doesn't matter to the troops. This is an excellent tool for the troops in the bullshit (foot pursuits, traffic pursuits etc.)The post was created because it still amazes me that in a city of 3 million people and the 2nd largest department in the country we only have one helicopter and it just recently became operational. The department loves to boast how technologically advanced we are and how we are the envy of just about every department in the world. In this instance we are definitely the new kids on the block and have a long way to go before we are up to par with our contemporaries i.e. LAPD and NYPD

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to a photo of the CPD helicopter: http://copcardotcom.fotki.com/photographs_of_greg/greg_reynolds--chic/dsc07726.html

Anonymous said...

It is more disgusting then amazing.

Anonymous said...

>>>>The department loves to boast how technologically advanced we are...<<<<<<
If we ever get hit by terrorists, I hope someone will use the Blackberry to ask for help from other depts. in other states.

Anonymous said...

Lookie here:

http://bjsdata.ojp.usdoj.gov/dataonline/Search/Law/Local/LocalAgencyProfile.cfm

Anonymous said...

The CPD, has purchased a second helicopter and it was delivered to a company which is installing all the POLICE stuff. It is a brand new BELL and should be operational in three months.

Anonymous said...

Sunday around noon 025 had to call in SOS and dog units to help them find a shitbird running around with a tech-9 around Division St. Numerous requests were made for air support. After some time, a reply came over City-Wide One-"If you really need us, we can be in the air in thirty minutes". Thanks for nothing.

Anonymous said...

Is air one still operational? I haven't heard them on the zone since June.

Anonymous said...

Yes it takes about 30 minutes to get that bird on site. Operators must get siuted up, get the bird out of the hanger, pre flight checks and travel time to your location.

How long does it take you to get on the street and to your first assignment in your squad car, from the time you arive at the station?

The big differance is if you rush and forget something you dont have to worry about falling out of the sky.

I am greatfull your not my supervisor.

SECOND CITY SARGE said...

You are assuming "Thanks For Nothing" is a supervisor.

Anonymous said...

So exactly why is this helo sitting in a hangar all day long? It should be in the air where aircraft belong, not sitting in on the ground! If the bird is in the hangar it is of no use to us and we might as well sell it and put the money to better use. Additionally, you could use a little in-service training on the proper way to use the radio, while your boss may be a former commander or deputy or whatever he was, he and you know shit about how to properly communicate on the air. What good is a helo in a car chase of homicide offenders or in a kidnapping if you can't be on-scene post haste. As far as getting out of the station versus you getting your butts in the air there is no comparison and you should be ashamed to even try and compare yourselves to the working police.

Sgt. B.S.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I'm not your supervisor either. You can't spell--Greatful?? Try grateful. Report kicked back.

I've seen the fire department helicopter drop divers into the water five minutes after I received a call of a person in the water. Why can't our response be better?

Please keep in mind that this is an open blog
that can and is read by people other than Chicago Police Officers.