Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2005
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Record
Contact:  http://www.recordnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/428
Author: Greg Kane, Record Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

HEFTY OPERATING COSTS MAY LEAD TO HELICOPTER'S SALE

STOCKTON -- A helicopter bought by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office 
in 2002 likely will be sold by the end of the year.

The Hughes 500D helicopter was grounded six months ago because it cost too 
much to operate, said Sheriff Bob Heidelbach. The state's budget crisis and 
declining federal grants forced officials to lock away the chopper in a 
hangar at Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

"It costs a lot of money to put those up in the air," Heidelbach said 
Tuesday. "It would really be nice to continue to use the helicopter. But it 
just got to the point where it isn't cost-effective."

Heidelbach is expected to ask county supervisors in early September for 
permission to sell the helicopter. Once the sale is authorized, it will be 
advertised in various publications and either auctioned or directly sold, 
county purchasing agent Cliff Baumer said.

The 25-year-old helicopter recently was appraised at $365,000, Baumer said. 
The county bought the chopper for $400,000 from the Sacramento County 
Sheriff's Office three years ago. The chopper and a Cessna 206 airplane 
were acquired using a federal methamphetamine-fighting grant, Heidelbach 
said. The grant was cut drastically over the past few years -- from 
$661,000 in 2004-05 to $476,000 this year.

In the meantime, the vast majority of the county's air drug surveillance 
has been done with the plane, which flies higher, makes less noise and 
isn't easily detected, Heidelbach said. The helicopter is great for 
population centers such as Los Angeles or counties with rocky or wild 
terrain, he said, but not as necessary in San Joaquin County.

Proceeds from the sale will go toward the San Joaquin Metropolitan 
Narcotics Task Force, which has lost 10 of 20 agents in the past few years 
because of budget cuts, Heidelbach said.

"We're trying to get a few more bodies," Heidelbach said. "That will help 
pay for new staffing over the next couple of years."

Though the method of sale isn't known, the chopper most likely will be 
auctioned off, Baumer said. Bidders don't have to be law enforcement 
agencies, either.

"It can be bought on the open market," he said.
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