Police helicopter on chopping block?
News coming out about budget cuts sounds dire for the Baltimore Police Department. At the moment, the police helicopter known as Foxtrot is on the chopping block.
Police already are mounting their defense of the $4 million a year expenditure, with a spokesman calling its loss "devastating." The Baltimore Sun's Julie Scharper noted that Baltimore could be just one of three cities with more than a half million people without a police aviation unit. And given we're consistently among the cities with the highest crime, that does not bode well.
Foxtrot flies almost 24 hours a day and is used to help officers chase suspects on the ground and makes car chases, at least the kind you see on TV out of LA, obsolete. Officers use the powerful light to illuminate crime scenes and to guide officers through streets and alleys.
I suspect in the end that Foxtrot -- which gained unwanted notoriety last year when its pilot helped a state delegate propose marriage during a stunt that involved a mock police raid on a boat -- will remain. It's too high profile to cut, and might just be included on the list as a scare-tactic. Some city council members say the proposed cuts, which include closing three fire stations and the police marine and horse units, are designed to make other fees more palatable.
The mayor is to present her formal budget on Wednesday.
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Top brass
Comments
I'm tired of listening to that chopper drone overhead all the time. especially in the middle of the night, it wakes me up when I'm trying to sleep.
mostly all he does is light up the street. he said so himself. That's what street lights are for!
Posted by: Lee | March 18, 2010 10:12 AM
Yeah, let's lose the helo 'cause you're tired of listening to it...ever hear of ear plugs. If you hear it that much, you must live where you really do need it.
Posted by: Dave | March 19, 2010 6:17 AM
Yeah, shut up and go back to sleep. Or, better still, MOVE!
Posted by: Keith Rock | March 19, 2010 9:40 AM
Sounds like Lee works for the Mayor. Do I hear "fake" emailer from her office? Didn't her press guy get caught doing that before when he worked for DM Dem Party HQ? Hmmmmm. Fishy. Nobody in their right mind would complain about the helicopter.
Good try guys. We're on to ya though !!
Posted by: BPDJames | March 19, 2010 2:04 PM
Get rid of the helicopter. I welcome the budget cuts and hope they are here to stay.
Posted by: waronus | April 1, 2010 2:21 PM
The helicopter is a constant harassment, as are the police. BPDJames, I am in my right mind when I say you and your squad are a gang. I have witnessed police pay-offs from the scum on the corner out of my bedroom window for too long, and have been harassed for walking and driving in my neighborhood more by the cops than the drug dealers, accused of being a junkie. You and the dope dealers are destroying my community, and even though you and I both know 193 police positions and foxtrot are not going anywhere, every action you commit will have a repercussion. Know this. How can you serve a community when you must fulfill an arrest quota? Perhaps you should fund my new residence, save that I love my community, and will not tuck tail and run in the face of a gang, whether they wear rags or badges. PS: BPDJames, the mayor is supposedly looking out for your job, according to Wednesday's statement. I hope both of you get canned.
Posted by: SW Citizen | April 15, 2010 3:31 PM