Board OKs Buying 2 Sheriff’s Helicopters

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the purchase of two new helicopters for the Sheriff’s Department, rejecting a private company’s proposal to contract with the county for aviation rescue and firefighting services.

Last month, the Sheriff’s Department asked the board to approve $6.4 million to lease a new helicopter, with the option to buy it, and to purchase parts that would allow it to finish refurbishing another one. The department would spend unused public safety revenue generated by a half-cent sales tax.

But Charles McLaughlin, president of Aspen Helicopters in Oxnard, told board members that he could meet the county’s needs more cheaply. Aspen could provide free medical transport, because of medical insurance reimbursements, and also fight fires for less money, he said. Aspen operates 10 helicopters.

Board members voted in December to have the chief administrative officer study McLaughlin’s proposal. That study, completed last week, recommended that the county purchase its own equipment.

Contracting with a private company made no financial sense, Sheriff Bob Brooks said, because his department would still have to respond to situations requiring trained law enforcement.

“No police agency uses a private vendor for that reason,” Brooks said. “You can’t actually replace what we do. You don’t have ‘Dial Security’ respond to bank robberies.”

Brooks said he hopes to have both helicopters in the air within the year.