Sheriff Hopes to Get Funds for 2 Copters

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department hopes to gain approval from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to spend $6.4 million on a pair of helicopters.

Sheriff Bob Brooks said the upgraded helicopters are needed to continue the department’s search and rescue operations, firefighting duties and medical evacuations.

The funds would provide the department with one new helicopter and enable it to rebuild another. Much of the money needed to pay the annual $1.1-million debt service on the helicopters over the next 10 years would come from unused public safety revenue generated by a half-cent sales tax, Brooks said.

Plans call for the Ventura County Fire Protection District, which would also use the helicopters, to contribute $125,000 this fiscal year and $250,000 annually afterward until the loan is repaid.

Brooks said that during 1999 the Sheriff’s Department flew 358 search and rescue missions, firefighting assignments and medical evacuations.

The helicopters are Vietnam-era UH-1s that the military began phasing out in the 1990s. Consequently, spare parts for two of the department’s three helicopters are now impossible to locate, Brooks said.

The sheriff said the aviation unit provides specialized services, making his department, rather than private contractors, best suited for the job.

“Our pilots have between 15 and 20 years’ experience and they are trained specifically for this kind of work,” he said. “They fly rescue operations and put out fires in the back country.”

The department plans to lease a Bell 212 helicopter and get new parts to rebuild the county’s Bell 205A-1 helicopter.

County Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford said he thought the sheriff’s plans were the most cost-effective.

“Based on our evaluation it’s the best way,” he said.