THAT’S DEBATABLE:

Recently, the police department disbanded its narcotics unit and reassigned officers in the department to save money. There may be other cuts looming as the economy worsens. Should the city also consider dumping the police helicopter program?

No. The police helicopter program is a very valuable asset to the department. From a financial standpoint, the program needs to be evaluated to see if there are some cost savings. Additionally, our agreements with other cities need to be looked at for a more equitable share of the costs.

Gary Monahan

Costa Mesa Councilman

Whatever budget decisions are made during the next few months, we must look to the long-term effects on services to our residents and businesses, and tourists visiting our city. We cannot afford quick fixes that toss out stable successful programs. We must sit down with our department directors, employee representatives and the community to carefully consider and implement a long-term economic development plan that protects and generates revenue, not just patch the holes now and try to fix it all later. As to the Airborne Law Enforcement unit, or ABLE, this is a highly successful crime prevention program that I support.

There are three basic reasons to keep ABLE — budget, crime and noise.

Budget: ABLE pays for itself. Why throw out a program with a proven budget and ability to generate revenue outside of Costa Mesa? We have the quietest helicopters and the best equipment because the cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach have managed to create one of the most cost-effective budgets of any helicopter program around. Agencies from across the nation have looked to ABLE as a model.

Crime: Each year the helicopter crews assist with hundreds of arrests, pursuits and crimes in progress. Many suspects would not have been captured without the assistance of the helicopter. Unfortunately, no other agency, including the Sheriff’s Department, can come close to ABLE’s crime-fighting record. Look at the statistics between the two agencies — ABLE’s numbers of arrests and crimes solved far outnumber the Sheriff Department’s.

Noise: You know our residents don’t like helicopter noise — the first time they hear what a large Sheriff’s helicopter sounds like on patrol, they’ll be furious!

Conclusion: Trying to save a buck by turning our city over to the Sheriff’s Department will compromise our quality of life because it will result in higher crime rates — and very noisy helicopters. Regardless, the ABLE program is governed by a separate joint powers board. The City Council of Costa Mesa does not have the authority to just “dump” it.

Instead of “dumping” it, we should consider requesting that the fees be increased to other cities who utilize the service but are not burdened with the overhead, maintenance, and training costs. Cuts alone will only hurt us in the long run.

Katrina Foley

Costa Mesa councilwoman

I don’t think that “dumping” is the right word. We have taken a responsible pro-active approach to looking at everything, including the ABLE program. We have asked for information regarding cost distribution to all cities that utilize our helicopter for assistance. Once we have that we will better see if it is set up in the most efficient manner. Right now Costa Mesa and Newport pay for the bulk of the program and receive most of the flight time over our cities. Santa Ana however pays on an as-needed basis. That is a great deal for them. So these economic times are providing an opportunity for us to look at how we do business.

Allan Mansoor

Costa Mesa mayor

Absolutely not. ABLE is a valuable piece of Costa Mesa’s comprehensive approach to combating crime and protecting our citizens. Via helicopter, ABLE police officers go right to the scene of a crime in progress.

According to Police Chief Chris Shawkey, “ABLE has saved drowning victims, located lost hikers and children, assisted with officer-involved shootings, prevented officers from being shot, located a serial rapist, captured a murder suspect, solved crime patterns, and safely pursued fleeing vehicles. In 2008, they handled 5,256 calls, made 66 arrests, managed 45 vehicle pursuits, recovered 34 stolen cars, canceled ground response on 202 calls, saving unnecessary out-of-service time for patrol units, and were first on-scene 60% of the time.”

When I went up in the helicopter to view the fireworks on the Fourth of July last year, I saw firsthand how the helicopter’s presence deterred lawbreakers who were on the ground. When you have a big light shining on you and someone from above with a loud speaker telling you to “stop,” it’s very powerful.

As with all city departments, we are looking to save money to make programs more efficient and we will try to find ways to save money in ABLE.

Wendy Leece

Costa Mesa mayor pro tem

Did not respond

Eric Bever