Doing More With
Limited Resources
It is no surprise to anyone in LE aviation that budgets are tight, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. “The economy has not been good for several years, outside of a few exceptions,” Schwarzbach said. “This has affected the funding of law enforcement aviation units.”
Tight money is forcing LE aviation units to do their jobs with existing resources, and to stretch these resources to support even more missions.
“Counties are trying to do as much as they can with the equipment they have,” CCSO Chief Pilot Engelauf said. “For example, our unit conducts law enforcement firefighting and we will begin our over-water rescue program later this year, all with the use of our primary patrol platform. As public servants we are always striving to provide the citizens of Charlotte County the best services that are available. In Charlotte County, we will strive to provide any and all aviation services our equipment is capable of.”
For some LE aviation units, working with what they have isn’t easy. The Stratford Police Department’s Eagle 1 rescue helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut, is a prime example. The operation and maintenance of this reconditioned 1968 UH-1 is funded through the non-profit Nelson-D’Ancona Foundation, which relies on corporate and private donations to keep Eagle 1 fueled and flying.
The helicopter itself is a donation to the Stratford Police Department (SPD) from the federal government’s 1033 Program that transfers military surplus equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies. The pilots and crew who keep Eagle 1 in service are officers with other duties at the SPD and nearby law enforcement agencies, plus some volunteers.
Despite the very real limits it operates under, Eagle 1 flies all kinds of missions: from rescue and relief flights (including a month spent in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005) to aerial command- and-control during critical incidents, surveillance/photographic flights, and counter-drug missions. Still, a lack of regular funding does hamper Eagle 1’s capabilities.
“The biggest problem we have right now is interoperable communications,” said Captain Alan V. Wilcoxson, the Stratford Police Department’s patrol division commander. “Post-9/11, we were able to get a few police radios. But a lot of cities and departments have since upgraded their communications to digital platforms that are encrypted. This leaves us with radios that are obsolete, and the need to get new codes and permissions from neighboring departments so that we can communicate with them.”
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