LONG BEACH PD TO SWAP OUT EC 130's FOR LESS COSTLY USED ASTARS
According to Lt. Richard Rocchi of the Long Beach Police Dept, it may not be long before the unit receives two AS350B2 Astar helicopters from the neighboring Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Rocchie said the 'swap' would address the LA County Sheriff's Dept. requirement for increased payloads on specific-role missions while enabling Long Beach to return lower annual operating costs for their mainly patrol related duties.