A crook on the run in Snohomish County soon could have more to fear than cops in cars.
The sheriff’s office expects to have its smaller, faster, quieter helicopter back in the air in the coming months.
The helicopter will mean more policing from the sky, said sheriff’s Capt. Tim Shea, commander of special operations.
“A cop in a car is lucky if he can see fifty yards ahead of him. A crew in an aircraft can see hundreds of yards, over fences and on the tops of buildings,” Shea said. “It’s a manpower multiplier.”
The military surplus helicopter, a Hughes 500-P, has been out of commission since November 2002, when a mechanical failure forced the pilot to make a hard landing in the front yard of a Machias house. No one was injured in the crash.
Damage to the 1966 aircraft was relatively minimal, but the sheriff’s office overhauled the helicopter, including exchanging tough-to-replace military parts for some that are more readily available.
The Hughes also will be outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment to make it more efficient for police work, Shea said.
The improvements and new equipment cost about $450,000.
Less than $100,000 came from the sheriff’s budget, Shea said.
Many of the improvements were funded through grants, sales from surplus equipment and donations from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue.
The addition of the much-improved helicopter may help kick-start a countywide air unit.
Shea hopes other police and fire departments will see the benefits of using aircraft and partner with the sheriff’s office to maintain the program.
Snohomish County already is working with King and Pierce counties to create a regional air unit. The federal government provided a grant to the counties to develop a plan. Compared to other parts of the country that are similar in size and population, the thee-county area lacks air support, Shea said.
Snohomish County will learn this summer whether it will receive a federal grant to make improvements to its other helicopter, a 1970 UH-H1.
That bigger helicopter is used primarily for search and rescue missions. It also is used to fight fires from the air.
The sheriff’s office is expected to use the Hughes more for patrolling the county. Shea hopes to have it up at least three times a week.
It will have a bright spotlight, an infrared camera for night flights and a receiver to track down stolen vehicles. The helicopter also is set to have a system that will allow the crew to take pictures and transmit them to people on the ground.
That could prove invaluable for emergency crews that need to survey damage following a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or flood, Shea said.
The quiet helicopter also can improve safety for deputies on the ground. It can track down bad guys on the run without high-speed chases, Shea said.
“Just having a helicopter orbiting at a crime scene can alert neighbors to what’s going on,” chief pilot Bill Quistorf said. “They’ll call us if they see someone running through their back yards. We catch people that way.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
