Modesto takes up police plan for crime-fighting plane

Police officials will make their pitch Wednesday for why they need to purchase a crime-fighting airplane to the Modesto City Council’s newest committee – the Safer Neighborhoods Community Advisory Board.

The public is invited.

The council decided last month not to vote on whether to purchase the aircraft and sent the proposal to two of its committees for public discussion before bringing it back to the council. Major proposals typically are vetted by one of the council’s committees before coming to the council. This was not done in this case.

There was also the question of the proposal’s timing. The Police Department brought this forth after the voters rejected Measure G, a half-percent general sales tax increase, in the Nov. 3 election. Modesto had placed the measure on the ballot, saying that it did not have enough revenue to provide the level of public safety services needed to make Modesto safer.

City Manager Jim Holgersson has said this proposal also will be vetted by the council’s Safety and Communities Committee.

The Police Department wants to spend as much as $660,000 for a light sport aircraft that seats two and is equipped with a spotlight and high-definition camera with long-range scope and night vision that records what it sees. A November city report states it would cost $84,500 to operate annually.

Police Chief Galen Carroll has said the aircraft would be flown by volunteer pilots and police officers who are pilots. He envisions the airplane being in the sky five to six hours a day, five days a week, patrolling the city, conducting traffic enforcement, helping special operations and tracking crimes in progress.

“I see this as being a force multiplier,” Carroll said last month. The department’s staffing is at its lowest level in many years, with 219 officers allocated in the current budget year.

The Police Department wants to purchase a Flight Design CTLEi aircraft from Airtime Aviation in Tulsa, Okla. Officials have said the plane costs $202,030 and the camera costs $332,029. The remaining costs include a computer, police radio, training and installation.

The city report states the city would pay for the aircraft and its high-tech gear with $194,000 in state asset forfeiture funds; $166,000 from its traffic safety fund; $100,000 in the Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funds it receives from the state; and $200,000 from the general fund. The report states the $200,000 is from a refund from money the city provided the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency.

The asset forfeiture, traffic safety and supplemental funds cannot be used to hire employees.

Carroll has said his department is pursuing this because it is significantly cheaper than paying the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department to have its helicopter patrol Modesto 25 to 30 hours a week. The helicopter costs $650 an hour to operate vs. $65 for the Flight Design aircraft.

The advisory board meets at 3 p.m. in Room 2001 on the second floor of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 10:36 AM with the headline "Modesto takes up police plan for crime-fighting plane."