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LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

lapdhelicoptertracker.com

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Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#31

Post by asdff »

shoddydoordesk wrote: post #27
BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

There are high speed police chases (100mph+) in Los Angeles — no exaggeration — on an almost daily basis. Air support is the primary defense tool for law enforcement. It's so bad that the local TV stations have their own choppers and a dedicated on-screen UI tailored for the chases with GPS-based tracking and speed. If you're lucky you can catch one of the many YouTube live streams. Here's one from....two days ago: h…

They get away from time to time from the airship. Two in one week this past august and I don't think they ever caught the suspects. One drove under an overpass and fled on foot, the other entered LAX airspace which requires waiting on clearance from ATC and got away somehow after that. I don't know why they don't just shoot a magnetic dart at the car with a gps tracker on it.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#32

Post by dilippkumar »

shoddydoordesk wrote: post #27
BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

There are high speed police chases (100mph+) in Los Angeles — no exaggeration — on an almost daily basis. Air support is the primary defense tool for law enforcement. It's so bad that the local TV stations have their own choppers and a dedicated on-screen UI tailored for the chases with GPS-based tracking and speed. If you're lucky you can catch one of the many YouTube live streams. Here's one from....two days ago: h…

> There are high speed police chases (100mph+) in Los Angeles — no exaggeration — on an almost daily basis.

How is anyone driving at that speeds in LA traffic?

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#33

Post by asdff »

BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

They bought them and spent a lot of money on supporting infrastructure and are therefore compelled to use them when they chase a middle aged drunken homeless man through a neighborhood.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#34

Post by asdff »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #17
ripberge wrote: post #3

As someone who lives in central LA and has them circle my neighborhood frequently, actually shaking my house, I think this is awesome. These needs should be filled by drones. Way less noisy, dangerous and expensive.

Down in SD at least, the sheriff's office helicopters serve many purposes. They'll use them for firefighting, hike rescues (often! according to their IG), first responder to an aviation accident, loudly shouting garbled messages through their loudspeaker, etc. There's just enough high-speed/timely crime here that I prefer they use these over drones. There's some extra legal protections built into helicopters that dro…

LAPD doesn't conduct rescue operations or anything like that. Different helicopters are used from different agencies.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#35

Post by embedding-shape »

BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

Where in Germany though? Helicopters tend to be more popular to use for various purposes in very densely populated places, like Hong Kong or New York City, but you don't really see them much in rural areas except for emergencies.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#36

Post by asdff »

tcdent wrote: post #12
polalavik wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why LA is spending thousands/hour when drones exist is crazy.

You're talking about technology that's only become realistic in the last couple years. Even then, there's probably nothing off-the-shelf that would serve the current need. LAPD has been patrolling with helicopters for decades . I have yet to see a drone follow a car in high speed pursuit down the 5 at 100+ MPH.

Why do we need to follow a car in a high speed pursuit and force it to go 100mph on uncontrolled streets is the better question

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#37

Post by hatthew »

digdugdirk wrote: post #25
tcdent wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're talking about technology that's only become realistic in the last couple years. Even then, there's probably nothing off-the-shelf that would serve the current need. LAPD has been patrolling with helicopters for decades . I have yet to see a drone follow a car in high speed pursuit down the 5 at 100+ MPH.

On the other hand, I have seen drones chase down F1 cars at 100+ MPH... Realistically though, I agree with your sentiment. Solving this would drones would require a constant flock of something more akin to Predator drones. The better question is - why do we allow high speed pursuit chases in the first place?

As far as I'm aware, high speed drones tend to have quite short flight durations due to battery limitations. Drones that have the range to follow a fleeing suspect for a long time would probably have to be big enough that they could cause a fatal accident if they crash, and in that case I'd rather have a pilot on board. Better reaction time, no risk from jamming, much better field of view/awareness, decades of testing, etc.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#38

Post by efnx »

asdff wrote: post #31
shoddydoordesk wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are high speed police chases (100mph+) in Los Angeles — no exaggeration — on an almost daily basis. Air support is the primary defense tool for law enforcement. It's so bad that the local TV stations have their own choppers and a dedicated on-screen UI tailored for the chases with GPS-based tracking and speed. If you're lucky you can catch one of the many YouTube live streams. Here's one from....two days ago: h…

They get away from time to time from the airship. Two in one week this past august and I don't think they ever caught the suspects. One drove under an overpass and fled on foot, the other entered LAX airspace which requires waiting on clearance from ATC and got away somehow after that. I don't know why they don't just shoot a magnetic dart at the car with a gps tracker on it.

It would have to be a very special dart. Cars are mostly aluminum and foam. A piercing dart would be dangerous and a magnet would really work.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#39

Post by BadBadJellyBean »

embedding-shape wrote: post #35
BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

Where in Germany though? Helicopters tend to be more popular to use for various purposes in very densely populated places, like Hong Kong or New York City, but you don't really see them much in rural areas except for emergencies.

In a big city. Not rural at all.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#40

Post by Aurornis »

BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #21

I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

> I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.

Same for me, but I live in America.

The specific location matters a lot. The LA area is more population dense and bigger than might be obvious.

To put it in perspective, the GDP of the LA area is about 1/4 as much as the GDP of your entire country.

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