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Current Air Support
The helicopter fleet now consists of two Enstrom F28F’s, one
Bell 206 BIII, and two Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warriors. We are currently in the
process of refurbishing two Bell OH-58’s that were acquired through the
military surplus program.
The Section is made up of both sworn and non-sworn personnel. Sworn
personnel consist of one lieutenant, one sergeant, one corporal, and eight
police officers. Six of these officers make up our airborne patrol crews
while the remaining two are assigned to our regional narcotics taskforce (LA
IMPACT). Our non-sworn employees include three full-time mechanics, one
facility service worker, and one volunteer. The heliport is located in the
Arroyo Seco area between the Rose Bowl and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It
is a sprawling 6.5 acre complex with a hangar, office complex, and five
designated landing sites.
The crews work seven days a week, running two shifts during day and night
time hours. The shifts have been chosen to maximize our effectiveness during
the peak hours of activity. Each crew is responsible for flying a minimum of
4. 5 hours of patrol per shift.
It is not uncommon to have one helicopter and crew assigned to patrol, one
helicopter and crew dedicated to LA IMPACT, and a third helicopter assigned
to any of the major events being held in Pasadena. Some of these include
UCLA Football, Galaxy Soccer, World Cup Soccer, and the occasional Super
Bowl. The crew’s primary goal during these events is to establish an aerial
platform from which they can provide traffic direction or coordinate site
security with ground personnel. Air Operations personnel will also fly
surveillance missions for many of our investigative details and provide
rapid transportation for our tactical and K9 teams during critical
incidents.
The helicopter is effective due to the quick response time, and the use of
experienced officers as pilots and observers. Last year we responded to over
10,000 calls and were directly responsible for more than 600 arrests. Our
fleet flew over 4,500 hours and the average response time was under 50
seconds.
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