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lr economist stsiiitjdribane ys0iauraug despite the racist it creates in the night skies fightingcrimefrom above is proving to be a winning situation fdk both doliaand citizens learn and as we grow we can minimize the disturbance to the public arid maximize the fight cnme by kathleen griffin staff writer v both citizens and police are learning how disturbing crime fighting can be now that it has taken to the sky york regional polices air support unit the whirlybird dubbed air 2 7 has responded to 164 calls since june 26 prompting calls from residents throughout the region about its noise there js a learnirigcurve there for us and for the public what calls require a priority response versus what the public tolerance is for those calls staff sgt craig rogers said as we learn and as we grow we can minimize the disturbance to the public and maximize the fight against crime rogers said police say the helicopter is invaluable in tracking fleeing sus- pects and for disbanding large groups of people either at bush parties or in one example a rival gang fight in a public parking lot a most noise inqiiiriesare just thatj inquiries rogers added people are curious about what the chopper is doing whats going on do they need to be concerned some call to say it woke them up at 2 am7 but the chopper is not comf ing in residential areas doing low flyovers unless its ah emergency before- wed berunning through your back yard with the dog and youdnever know we were there as the program continues refinements will be made to respond to trie publics concerns rogerssaid for example a deci- sion to have air2 monitor an area that has experienced a spree of car thefts might have full support of those residents nothing chases the bad guys away faster than the helicopter rogers said but were sensitive to the fact it does cause noise and were sensitive to the fact we oper- ate in the hours of tlie day most people are asleep he said the helicopter a 1995 turbinepowered enstrom 480 has proven its worth in dozens of occa sions for example saturday night police received a report of kids on the roof of a newmarket school try- ing to break in the helicopter was there in less than 30 seconds using an infrared camera to confirm five heat sources on the roof the groundunits wouldnt have access to that information otherwise he said air 2 was able to report they were coming down on the north side of the school and that information was invaluable to the ground units that same night in stouffyille police responded to a complaint about drag racers air 2 officers watched as a red car tried to evade ground officers by driving off with out lights usingtheir information street officers ideated the car and arrested the 18yearroid driver toronto police under former york chief julian fan tino launched its own pilot project last week with two jet rangers on duty for the next six months they received the first rash of noise complaints tuesday after a chopper was sent into a resi dential area to search for a suspect in the mid dle of the night over v the week- end the york force wrapped up its pilot with durham region as partner in 1999 the bird had responded to400 calls with an average response time ofo three minutes i t v in a particular area that was consistently helicopterpatrolled break and enters dropped by 19 per cent it aided in the seizure of 4 million in drugs and helped police lay 86 charges against dragsters before wed be running through your backyard with the dog and youd never know we were there with the donation of 750000 last march from charles burnett the air support unit was established by june 1- and flying june 26 it will cost taxpayers about 350000 annually to run and maintain air 2 staff consists of two full- time pilots two fulltime officers and an alternate it flies four hours aday six daysa week for a total of 732 hours this year it is available 24 hours a day for emergencies if theres a chopper in the area its up there for a reason to ensure the officer and the public are safe rogers said for example we get quite a few shots fired calls and if they take place in vacant farm land or a rural area its very difficult for police officerswalking into an unknown situation in an unknown area in total darkness with the possibility of someone with a guri thehelicopter can check a huge amount of area with- but having to risk human life and wereriot sending an officer into something that could be very dan- gerous other recent success stories a patrol unit in newmarket observed a suspicious vehicle at mulock drive and yonge street june 22 officers attempted to stop the car but thedriver evaded police f andsuspects abandoned the vehi- cle east of yonge running north officers aloft in air 2 communi cating with the canine unit on the ground located two heat sources the suspects nearby on july 4 a vehicle wanted in connection with an armed robbery in nobletori was found abandoned after a single car crash in king the driver reported to be armed with a handgun fled on foot canine air 2 and area patrol units responded the helicopter maintaining a perimeter by circling the area the canine unit tracked the sus- pect to a barn where he was found hiding inside he was charged with 21 offences relating to armed rob- beriesin york region and toronto four days later the helicopter converged on paramount canadas wonderland after police received informatiqnabout a possible gang fight to take place after a kingswood concert when air 2 was dispatched to monitor the parking lot groups of individuals wearing gang bandanas and clothing dis- banded and left imagine trying to manage a crowd of 1000 tol 500 people waiting for a fight to erupt how would officers ever know it would be long over before they got there in a matter of 30 seconds the peo ple were awareof the police heli copter the spotlight was oh arid they dont want any part of it they know theyre oncamera now thats a huge advantage