Editorials

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Eye in sky, pie in sky, studies say

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 08/22/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Everyone -- from the mayor, police chief, provincial ministers to the opposition -- seems sold on the idea of putting a helicopter over Winnipeg's skies to chase criminals. But where's the evidence that the value of a crime-fighting chopper trumps spending the money on other things that need doing?

It's not there, at least not yet. Police Chief Keith McCaskill has promised to put a report making the case for a police helicopter before city council shortly. The chief took a ride, recently, in Edmonton's police helicopter and he was very impressed.

But look at the evidence of other jurisdictions that have used helicopters. To a degree, the results are mixed: Independent and in-house analyses agree that helicopters are fast on the crime scene -- twice as fast as a cruiser -- and make police at the scene feel safer. There is also general agreement on the "operational efficiencies" of using the eye in the sky, in that a helicopter and its floodlight can help direct officers on the ground and is thought to halt criminals in the act. A police helicopter is not without advantage.

But in terms of cutting crime rates? There is not much evidence to support such a claim or to spend the $1 million to purchase a police chopper, and the $600,000 annually to keep it flying. A 2001 City of Toronto auditor's report on a six-month pilot project indicated that its two helicopters were used in 0.6 per cent of high-priority calls in that period. While the officers interviewed believed a helicopter was of assistance, in 70 per cent of the 190 cases reviewed, police said they would have achieved the same results in the absence of helicopter assistance. The auditor's report said there was no basis to conclude that the helicopters cut crime. In the case of high-speed chases, the chopper's role was insignificant as those events, officers said, are generally over and done before the bird flies.

A couple of studies by police themselves in a handful of jurisdictions are more complimentary of helicopter policing. Some have even stated they help to cut some crime, such as break and enters. A bright light in the sky understandably would give pause to a B&E artist.

Mayor Sam Katz can find all sorts of reasons why a helicopter would give Winnipeg police an edge. What he needs is data to show there would be value for the $600,000 annually a helicopter program would cost, that this luxury would repay enough to become the priority among competing needs. In the absence of proof that crime can be cut, the Toronto study indicated such a cost/benefit analysis is very difficult.

The city continually presses its case on Broadway for increased provincial funding to put boots on the street as crime, particularly organized crime, rises as a concern. The chopper budget would buy a lot more officers. While helicopter patrolling is limited in its use, police officers are not.

The thrum of a helicopter in the sky as a crime unfolds gives police and the public the sense that the walls are closing in on the bad guys. People are comforted at the sight of the "good guys" getting the upper hand. And surveys show strong public support for municipal helicopter policing programs. Much of that, however, is about perception rather than a cool cost evaluation.

Nowhere is there evidence that helicopters reduce the drug trade, clip the toxic effect of organized crime, cut human trafficking or keep guns off the street. These are Winnipeg's pressing crime issues. If there is a pot of money sitting around for increased policing, higher priorities should have dibs on it.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 22, 2009 A16

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