I have been in the helicopter as a pilot and on the ground as a Patrol Officer.
There is some truth and a whole lot of fantasy in the LA Report.
Yes....the noise of the helicopter can be a problem to ground units.....that is a fact.
Tactics properly employed especially with the latest technology can prevent that from happening.
Deterrence....that is something that cannot be determined by means of an audit.
How do you value something that did not happen?
What value is patrolling? Again....how do you assign values to that?
How many roof top break-ins are ever discovered by the Air Units?
How much effect does the sound of overhead rotor blades have on a group of shop lifters?
Can the helicopter reduce the risk to civilians in car pursuit situations....most definitely.
But again....how do you assess a value to that?
Los Angeles is a very large area....and having a helicopter airborne will almost certainly reduce the response time if the aircraft is in a fairly short distance distance from the scene.
What value do you assess for surveillance time using FLIR and other technology such as NVG's.....and IR Search lights?
Transporting SWAT Teams, Water Rescue Divers, and other specialized tasks....doing Live Hauls all improve the ability of the Police to respond to special needs scenes.
What I find absolutely laughable is the comparison of the Air Unit annual costs to the other departments that were cited......but then I also have to consider the linked source to understand the bias that it is so well known for.
How many tons of carbon dioxide is generated by those departments that save no lives and prevent no crimes?
If the Police helicopter using its FLIR system locates a missing child or senior adult....or tracks down a fleeing felon who has just committed a murder or other serious crime.....what amount of emissions are those events worth in the scheme of things.
California is known as the Granola Land for a reason and this is just another demonstration of just how utterly stupid some folks can be out there.
An analysis of operations designed to improve the efficiency and safety of the operation would make sense and have a place in the proper administration of the LAPD but the quoted report sure doesn't sound as if that was the reason.
As soon as it raised the notion of emissions.....that killed it for me. Climate change is a far lower priority than dealing with crime that affects the community to a far greater degree than climate.....as violent offenders are killing people every day and causing much negative effect upon every day living.