Recommendation to direct City Manager to report back within 90 days with a report with analysis of operational models, practical impacts, and budget differences between various models for the operation of the Helicopter Unit of the Long Beach Police Department.
Thank you. Item 14, please. Communication from Councilwoman Pryce, Councilwoman and Councilwoman Allen, Council member, super long recommendation to direct city manager to report back within 90 days. With a report. Between various models for the operation of the helicopter unit of the Long Beach Police Department. Thank you, Councilwoman Price. You, Mr. Mayor. So this item really is a follow up to some of the budget discussions and decisions that we made regarding our police helicopter unit. I'm a huge, huge supporter of the helicopter operations because I'm very familiar with and I think many of us are. The reality that when people commit crimes, one of the first instincts is to flee. And either whether they're fleeing on foot or in a car, that flight can be very dangerous and difficult for our police officers to apprehend the fleeing suspect if they're on foot. It's very difficult to be able to locate their whereabouts from the ground. And if they're in a vehicle, it can be really dangerous because oftentimes it results in high speed chases. And so the helicopter, a police officer, is trained to be able to see things from a much broader viewpoint and vantage point. And their operations are just much more efficient and safe in terms of apprehending fleeing suspects. And so I'm a little bit concerned because when we adopted the changes to the budget regarding our helicopter unit, we didn't really have a structure in place. I know we delayed the implementation of moving things like the Hart team over without further study and evaluation of what the practical changes would be. But with the helicopter unit, we simply just approved the budget modifications with the understanding that we'd be notified later of the operational changes. So we have been given some more information of how the operational model might work with the new budget. But I'm asking the city manager to take another look at that because with the increase in violent crime that we're seeing throughout the city. What I don't want to happen is for us to lose any more patrol officers from any of the four divisions. If a patrol officer who's trained to know what to look for has to go and assist a civilian pilot with with basic law enforcement functions, then I think it will cause our patrol divisions to suffer with that loss of a body. So it may make sense to do it. It may not make sense to do it. I know circumstances have changed since we adopted the budget in terms of staffing for that unit. And I'm just asking the city manager to take another look to for us to determine, does this new model still make sense ? Is the cost benefit enough that it it outweighs the benefits of having trained law enforcement personnel in a helicopter? And and if so, of course, I'm going to support whatever decision the chief and the city manager believe is the right thing to do. But I think this warrants a second look now that we've had an opportunity to to kind of settle from the budget and evaluate what some of the impacts of our decisions might be in a practical sense. So I want to thank the city manager for taking a look at this, and I want to urge my colleagues to support this item. And I just want to remind everyone, we're not asking to move any money around right now. We're just asking to see the current budget recommendations make sense in light of some of the practical realities. Thank you. Thank you, councilwoman. Next up is and I'm assuming that's also in motion. Councilman Van De has it received? Thank you, Mayor. I just want to thank profoundly Councilwoman Price and our amazing city staff for this item today. I'm really looking forward to that discussion when it comes back. And I think it's absolutely important that we understand the impact of our budgetary decisions on the work our city is able to do for our residents, especially coming from a district where there are so many violent crimes that happen. So I'm looking forward to that discussion. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you. I hope that when this report comes back that we're able to hear a little bit more about the standards across the industry. There are agencies across this country that take police officers and pay for them to go through a pilot school just so that they can get trained police officers. The amount of value that a pilot and spotter team happen when they coordinate and know each other well and work together well and have similar training experience. They say that it's worth between nine and 15 cars on the ground. And so the the cost benefit seems to be one that we really need to look at. So I'm very supportive of this item. I was supportive of reevaluating this as a potential cut when the budget was here. And I'm glad that it's coming back for an additional look. Thank you, Councilwoman Pryce. Thank you. Now I have Councilwoman Allen. Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I also want to thank Councilwoman Price for bringing this item. I, too, am a huge advocate of the helicopter. And as a former police officer, I can definitely attest to the benefits of the helicopter and what they bring to law enforcement. It saves on bad manpower and it's a great de-escalation tool when you can set up perimeters and it just slows things down. And so I look forward to seeing their report. I think experience matters. Like my councilwoman, Mongo just spoke on. And I like to see that those benefits. I also would like to know, I mean, if there's been any conversations with even, you know, contracting our services out to any of our border cities. And and then also, I did have some questions with regards to I know that the port has participated in some of the fees for the helicopters in the past and what that still looks like. So these are all things that I definitely would like to see and when the when the report comes back. So thank you so much again. And I appreciate staff looking into this. Thank you. I don't believe there's any public comment on this. No. There's no public comment on this item. Cast your votes, please. District one. I district to. By District. Three. District four, District five. I. District six. I. District seven. District eight. High District. Nine. Right. Merchant carries.