Four police helicopters will soon be coming to patrol the streets from the eye to curb street racing, auto thefts and grow ops.
Four new police helicopters to fight vehicle thefts and other crimes will soon be taking to our skies.
Toronto Police have long been calling for helicopters to fight crime, similar to Air Support Units used by York and Durham Regional Police forces.
The $46 million choppers were part of last month’s Ontario government budget which set aside funds for provincial police forces.
It is hoped the helicopters will be used to deal with tracking increased auto theft, street racing and impaired driving, high-risk suspect arrests
or to search for missing people.
Toronto police have been calling for an Air Support Unit with helicopters for a while.
Police said the helicopters could have helped with Project Paranoid which wrapped up on March 26 in which 150 charges were laid against seven people and led to the seizure of 48 stolen vehicles worth about $4 million. York
and Durham Region Police forces are the only regional police to have helicopters to battle crime.
York police in March last year replaced an old chopper with a new $7.1 million Airbus H12 helicopter, used by more than 200 police forces worldwide. York Police said their air unit supported over 1,300 calls for service, helped to make 213 arrests and assisted in finding
15 missing and vulnerable people.
York and Durham Regional Police forces have their own helicopters which are called to hundreds of calls yearly.
It can stay in the air for about four and a half hours, where it can take video of incidents in day and night, conduct traffic enforcement using thermal imaging, track suspects or stolen vehicles, alert officers
on the ground and identify indoor cannabis grow operations.
The chopper has a camera sensor with infrared technology, a reality mapping
system, search light capable of operating in all lighting conditions, and a public address system to communicate with people on the ground.
The York Police Air Support unit includes civilian pilots and tactical flight officers trained in patrol and suspect tactics, airborne surveillance and advanced thermal imaging. Its only time for Toronto Police get theirs.