Police Upgrade City’s Outdated Copter Fleet : Law enforcement: City Council approves the purchase of a faster, quieter, more-versatile jet aircraft. The new chopper will cost $863,470.

Glendale expects to have the most sophisticated police helicopter in the nation when it plunks down more than $860,000 next month for a jet aircraft that is touted as twice as fast, quieter and far more versatile than the city’s aging fleet of three piston-engine helicopters.

Under City Council action Tuesday, the Glendale Police Department will be the first law-enforcement agency to purchase a new turbine-engine helicopter that operates without a rear rotor blade, giving it greater flexibility in landing sites, city officials said.

The craft “could stick down into a bush, if it had to” in a precarious rescue operation, said Capt. Mike Post, head of the Glendale police technical services division.

Glendale officials say the city’s fleet of piston-engine helicopters is outdated. A speeding driver on the freeway, for instance, can outrun the city’s helicopters in a moderate head wind, which can slow the craft to 85 m.p.h. or less. The helicopters cannot be operated in temperatures over 100 degrees, which makes them dangerous to use under certain conditions, such as close to a brush fire, Post said.

With capacity for only a pilot and one passenger, the current fleet “is useless in a major fire or other disaster,” Police Chief James E. Anthony told council members Tuesday.

Jet models, such as those used by neighboring Burbank, can carry up to four passengers or 1,900 pounds of equipment and travel up to 175 m.p.h. With the greater load capacity, they can be used to airlift firefighters and equipment to remote areas, transport victims, and evacuate occupants from high-rise buildings, Post said.

By a 4 to 1 vote, the City Council approved the purchase of a McDonnell Douglas 520N turbine helicopter, which is expected to be delivered in August. The city in May paid $10,000 toward the purchase price of $863,470.

Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg voiced the lone opposition to the purchase, calling the price “not a wise expenditure right now.”

However, Anthony said purchase of the aircraft--called a Notar and one of the first produced commercially since federal approval of the model was granted late last year--is a bargain, priced $40,000 below subsequent models now being manufactured.

City officials said the expense is justified because the Police Department relies heavily on helicopters for law enforcement. Pilots answered 6,533 calls last year and were first on the scene 53% of the time, often in response to burglars, prowlers or suspected arsons in the city’s remote canyon areas, Post said.

He said helicopters provided key assistance last year in 174 felony arrests and 124 misdemeanor arrests. But he said operations are frequently hampered by the slow speed of the current aircraft.

“If we have to play catch-up to get to a high-speed pursuit, we’re in trouble,” Post said, adding that problems occur “often enough for it to be a major consideration.”

The city allocated $1.2 million in the current budget approved June 30 to replace its helicopters, two of which are 13 years old and due for overhaul. Funds from the sale of the current fleet will be used to help pay for a second jet helicopter, a used MD-500.

Glendale’s move to upgrade its fleet has prompted talk between Glendale and Burbank to merge their police helicopter operations, officials said. The two cities shared facilities and equipment from 1979 to 1988, when Glendale refused to go along with Burbank’s decision to switch to jet-powered aircraft.

Although the two cities have operated independently for the past four years, they share hangar facilities at Burbank Airport. Each city has one helicopter mechanic, and the two often work together to maintain equipment, said Glendale City Manager David Ramsay.

Glendale has five police officers assigned to its fleet, and Burbank has four police pilots and two helicopters.