This is neat but also has serious implications for criminal enablement.
Why? Helicopters already are on ADS-B.
LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
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Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#52This is neat but also has serious implications for criminal enablement.
no it doesnt. this data is public all over the place. most notably https://www.flightaware.com/
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Outside certain high performance cars, most cars have steel body panels.
Some steel body panels. Much of a car is made of plastic/urethan type materials, hoods are usually aluminum, some bodies are all aluminum....
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#55I 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…
Then why do you have so many car chases? That seems like an odd problem. There must be a reason.
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#56Earlier 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…
I mean in most other places people have simply realized that unless there is an immediate risk to life, the only thing high speed police chases do is create that very risk . Nicely contrasts with all the news about the omnipresent license plate scanners - it's just pointless, don't take the risk, arrest them at your leisure.
In many cases, the driver is not associated with the plates, with the car and/or plates being stolen.
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#57As 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.
I was in Santa Monica - the dense part with all the alleyways - during a foot pursuit involving a heli. Felt like I was in vietnam. It was at night, they were pretty low, and that light felt like the sun coming into the building.
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#58Living in LA, the LAPD helicopter noise really is incessant.
It's hilarious to hear flying cops try to be intimidating through when dispersing illegal concerts or singling individuals out in non-violent crowds. It's impotent posturing and an obvious waste of money. They really don't need to send 5 squad cars and a helicopter for noise complaints.
I will say though that the loudspeaker on those things are surprisingly clear, even through the buzzing of a helicopter.
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean in most other places people have simply realized that unless there is an immediate risk to life, the only thing high speed police chases do is create that very risk . Nicely contrasts with all the news about the omnipresent license plate scanners - it's just pointless, don't take the risk, arrest them at your leisure.
So your proposal is to just let the criminals run away? And that somehow won't embolden them further? "Once this baby hits 88mph, we're home free!" Air support is used to coordinate with law enforcement up ahead to deploy spikes to end the chase. You are just repeating empty political talking points that simply don't work in the real world.
A lot of departments terminate chases very early
Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs
#60My first question was how much of this is labor, and from the chart provided at the bottom of the helpful link provided elsewhere ( https://controller.lacity.gov/landings/lapd-helicopters ), it appears to be around 60%. I was wondering because I remember the last time I lived in Los Angeles in 2009 I went to a Lakers championship parade and talked to one of the cops assigned to crowd control, and asked about it when…
The way they fly you can tell they don't have a lot of flight experience. Really low compared to news choppers following the same pursuit. Juvenile even, at times (1-4)
1. https://old.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/1oolm68/lapd_he...
2. https://www.threads.com/@kilodelta/post/C5m373ZOX9Q
3. https://preview.redd.it/jcfdph3aiczf1.jpeg?width=1164&format...
4. https://preview.redd.it/dl7lqa2blbzf1.jpeg?width=1206&format...
