Questioning air support in Peoria

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

Peoria Mayor Jason Beck has been pushing for a helicopter to serve public safety in his city since he ran for office.

But some residents aren’t sure such a purchase with ongoing costs is a prudent financial move, especially since budget officials recently warned the council against adding “new ongoing costs during an uncertain economy.”

Some have questioned if there is even a need for an aircraft in Peoria when law enforcement agencies such as Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona Department of Public Safety and the city of Phoenix already offer the service free to Valley municipalities, if needed.

Additionally, the city has not shared any record of calls for service from these agencies to show need.

A recent public record request with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office revealed the agency responded to only seven calls of service from Peoria in the past year-and-a-half.

For months, Vice Mayor Denette Dunn has questioned the need for a helicopter in Peoria.

At first glance, she said, it sounds great until you look into the ongoing associated costs.

“It is my belief that it has not been a transparent process from the beginning. The public deserves more information instead of a sales pitch,” Dunn said.

Peoria plans to purchase a five-seat, dual-engine Bell 505 helicopter. Council will have final approval at a public meeting Dec. 12.

The air unit will be a partnership with the Peoria Fire-Medical and Police departments and will be used to assist each agency with day-to-day operations. The helicopter will be used primarily to “support the city’s Patrol Services Bureau and Operations Support Bureau with calls for service,” police said.

“The helicopter will be overhead prior to the ground units arriving on scene, will assist with establishing perimeters, assist in searching for something/someone on the ground,” officers said. “It will be able to patrol areas which are inaccessible to patrol vehicles, improve response times, provide surveillance, assist with vehicle pursuits, etc.”

Calls for Service

From Jan. 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, MCSO’s air unit responded to seven calls for service in Peoria. Most involved searches of some sort. They included searches for suspects, a missing person, a suicidal person and a victim.

Peoria Independent put in a public record request with the Phoenix Police Department to learn more about their helicopter deployments to Peoria. It took seven months to get the request back and it did not include specific answers to part of the inquiry.

Before submitting the request, an official with the department stated Phoenix helicopter flights are tracked.

After receiving the request months later, another city official contradicted that statement saying there is no requirement to document assistance to other jurisdictions regarding the helicopter and referred Peoria Independent to the city of Peoria for details on past helicopter services.

Peoria Independent followed up with the Phoenix Police Department but did not get a response to specific questions.

On the other hand, after requesting helicopter calls for service from Peoria Police, officers said the information is not easily traceable and referred Peoria Independent to DPS, MCSO or Phoenix Police Department for the information.

“Many times supervisors do not request for a helicopter because they know there would be a significant time delay and/or one not available,” Peoria Police said.

Costs

In May, the city received $17.6 million in one-time tax relief from the state, $3.5 million of which is planned to cover the cost of the new helicopter.

Once fully deployed, operational costs are expected to be about $1 million annually, which is consistent with other local law enforcement agencies that have a helicopter.

This will include a five-year triple net lease agreement approved by council Nov. 14 in the amount of $7,500 per month for hangar space at the Glendale Airport, 6575 N. Glen Harbor Blvd.

The lease is expected to cost the city about $420,000 over five years.

The expenditures come as city officials during a recent budget hearing said they are planning for a “cautious approach” on the fiscal year 2025 budget, which will be completed by summer.

As budget planning continues, Deputy City Manager Kevin Burke said the city will need to be careful about adding new ongoing costs.

Some operational costs are planned to be offset by mutual aid agreements with surrounding municipalities to share the use of the helicopter. Mutual aid agreements are common in the law enforcement world, but MCSO spokesman Sgt. Calbert Gillett said the county does not have a mutual aid agreement with Peoria or other municipalities.

“We provide assistance when requested and when available but there is no compensation provided. This is a common practice among the law enforcement agencies throughout the state with the primary goal of serving the public,” Gillett said.

Peoria resident Susan Muha said she wondered why Peoria and other surrounding cities would not just use the services that MCSO and other local agencies already offer. And if the city of Peoria does eventually offer a mutual aid agreement to other surrounding cities, she questioned why they would take it since they could receive the services from law enforcement agencies that already offer the service for free.

Operational costs for a new helicopter could be used to put more officers on the street or other needed items, she said.

The $1 million annual operating costs for the helicopter could pay for six new police officers.

“I am guessing they will need to partner with some other cities to be able to conduct high-speed chase containment and trail/mountain rescues. We don’t have a need for most of the mission this department would provide,” she said. “From all the information I can find or requested from the city, there has not been an indication of any demand for a helicopter in Peoria. There was no data provided regarding the number of high speed chases, rescue activities from peaks, or search and rescue need, and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office handles search and rescue at Lake Pleasant.”

Transparency

Dunn has questioned the need for a helicopter for months and said the city has not been as transparent about the helicopter as it should be.

She said Peoria residents were not made aware of all the costs involved with the hangar lease when it was considered on the consent agenda at the Nov. 14 public council meeting.

The consent agenda was approved by council, and she was the lone dissenting vote.

Dunn had questions about the lease she wished to voice publicly, but was silenced by Beck when she requested to pull the item from the consent agenda.

She questions if Peoria really needs a helicopter and if it being housed outside of Peoria will delay response times.

She added Peoria has helicopter coverage from Phoenix Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office at no cost to Peoria taxpayers.

“If I had not been silenced. Those things would have been brought up for discussion,” Dunn said.

When is a Helicopter Needed?

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona Department of Public Safety and the cities of Phoenix and Mesa offer helicopter service to Valley municipalities, if needed.

Many factors can go into the deployment of an aircraft for crime fighting operations.

Gillett said MCSO has two types of aircraft with an approximate combined average cost of about $1,600 per flight hour.

The air unit provides surveillance, photographic missions, search-and-rescue operations, assistance to SWAT teams, and educational/public relation missions throughout the Valley.
MCSO tries to help any agency that asks for assistance, but puts MCSO calls first, Gillett said.

“We prioritize injured individuals and search-and-rescue missions. MCSO calls for service would be prioritized before other agencies,” he said.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brian Bower said their air unit has regularly scheduled flights and while they are out, they help with calls for service for Phoenix patrol units, emergency calls, as well as department specialty units for a range of crimes and civil matters. If no calls are being worked, the air unit has the option of assisting other jurisdictions for police or fire needs, he said.

There are no specific criteria for these calls, he added.

“Responding to incidents outside of Phoenix are on request from other agencies as well as the pilot and copilot using their judgment on prioritizing calls of most importance,” Bower said.

Detective Brandi George, a spokeswoman for the Mesa Police Department, said their air support unit responds to one or two requests per week on average from neighboring cities, typically to requests related to missing persons and in-progress felony-type incidents.

Type of call and aircraft availability determines whether the city will respond, and if an aircraft is deployed, the aircrew must get permission from an on-duty lieutenant to leave the city, she said.

“When deciding on whether to deploy our police helicopter, we ask ourselves, ‘Can deployment of the department’s aircraft significantly assist with the safe outcome of the incident?’ If the answer is yes, then the aircraft is deployed — it’s really that simple,” George said.

Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.