Police helicopters an invaluable tool

I recently read an article in your paper ,which was written and

signed by a Jack Harris, a resident of Huntington Beach, who had

seemingly negative comments about the helicopters the Huntington

Beach Police Department uses for patrol purposes.

I appreciated his information and knowledge of statistics and

enjoyed his comments regarding the cost and alleged waste of money

(millions) the city is involved in as they maintain, not one, but

three of them. The twist to the whole article was, after all he wrote

and as he began to very, very, very slightly make an attempt at an

argument, he overshadowed his point by saying (at the end): “no noisy

helicopters.” If you ask me, that sounds like the real reason he is

so against the Police Department having them.

May I offer some of the benefits of using helicopters, the way I

see it? Not only do they assist patrol officers on the ground, but

they can be anywhere in the city in minutes to assist with calls for

service, most likely to be used during serious crimes-in-progress

and/or felony situations (bank robberies, burglaries, other types of

thefts, domestic violence, sexual assaults etc.) The helicopters can

also help with lower priority calls such as parking problems,

(incomplete) 911 calls from public pay phones on the street, in a

park, in front of businesses and in most cases it allows for the

patrol officers to be able to engage in other forms of important

police work, self-initiated investigations involving criminal acts or

even assisting citizens who are in need. Other reasons their use may

benefit officers, as well as the public of course, is looking for

lost or missing children, maybe a mentally impaired adult who was

reported as a walkaway from a convalescent home, and/or tracking a

Lojack (stolen vehicle) or On-Star activation from a vehicle

(motorist with an emergency).

Now, I’m not suggesting Harris’ statement is unreasonable or wrong

and his visions of nice parks and schools, streets and/or

infrastructure issues, as he compared to the city of Fountain Valley,

are not on my priority list either, but the helicopter program needs

to be fit into the city budget forever! The helicopters, as well as

all civil servant jobs, should be considered as important and high in

priority as those quality of life issues he is suggesting.

In his own words, he desires “little crime.” Well, keep the

helicopters in the air and they will be able to suppress any future

incidences -- or is it merely just about the noise they make?

* JASON SMITH is a Huntington Beach resident. To contribute to

“Sounding Off” e-mail us at hbindy@latimes.com or fax us at (714)

965-7174.