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LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

lapdhelicoptertracker.com

71–80 of 317 posts

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#71
post #31

Earlier 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.

> I don't know why they don't just shoot a magnetic dart at the car with a gps tracker on it. Hitting a car going 100mph with a magnetic dart that and getting it to hit on a metal part, not a window or trim, and specially a steel panel, is not easy at all.

OK, one with a big glob of bubblegum on it then.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#72

This 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/

Cool. And yours is simpler and doesn't require looking up what the identifiers are for LAPD in particular. Just own it.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#73
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Basically, letting them run away and then setting up a raid at their house the next morning is safer for everyone. If you can follow them from altitude well enough to do that, you reduce risk dramatically relative to either interception or chase. > They could learn a few things from the Georgia State Patrol, the undisputed world champions of the PIT. Why not just open up on them with antitank weaponry? PIT maneuvers…

Buddy, most of these are stolen cars. Do you think they are driving them home and parking it in the driveway?

If you are eluding the cops at 100mph you are a danger to the public, they are not going to let you go home.

>Why not just open up on them with antitank weaponry?

I've heard cops say something similar on body cam footage.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#74

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/audit-says-lapds-use... On average, the city spent an average of $46.6 million on the program, the audit disclosed. It also found that there is limited oversight or monitoring of the division, its policies and practices and whether the program is in line with the city's safety needs. [...] The department has 17 helicopters and over 90 employees. [..] The city operates their hel…

$5 per person per year then. Or, the price of a can of coke per person per month.

Much of which flows directly back into the local economy through wages spent and maintnance paid.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#75
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know why they don't just shoot a magnetic dart at the car with a gps tracker on it. Hitting a car going 100mph with a magnetic dart that and getting it to hit on a metal part, not a window or trim, and specially a steel panel, is not easy at all.

OK, one with a big glob of bubblegum on it then.

What happens when they miss and hit you in the head instead?

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#76
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The person “forc[ing] it to go 100mph” is in the car being chased.

Chased by what? It isn't a lion they are running from. It is a police interceptor egging them on to go 100mph.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#77

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…

> 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?

Like an asshole. We've all seen them, even if not in a chase. It may not be 100mph+ the whole time, but when there's open air, they'll get there.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#78
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know why they don't just shoot a magnetic dart at the car with a gps tracker on it. Hitting a car going 100mph with a magnetic dart that and getting it to hit on a metal part, not a window or trim, and specially a steel panel, is not easy at all.

There's a lot more aluminum than steel on car exteriors these days.

This got me curious so I went out on the street and held a magnet to the front passenger door of the first 6 parked cars I came across. The magnet stuck to 4 of them. The ones it did not stick to are a Nissan Rogue and a Jeep Sahara 4xe.

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have only been to Germany once, but my assessment was that we have a very different population here.

Possible but it seems like the chases are not even a US problem but more a "certain places" problem. I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.

> I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.

Seriously? It's from people not wanting to be arrested and go to jail. If they get away, perfect. If they don't, well, they were going to jail anyways. Now they have a cool story to tell while in jail. These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. These are people doing dirt, know it, and are willing to try something to avoid getting caught. It's really not complicated

Re: LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

#80
post #29

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…

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.

John Oliver recently did a segment on police chases

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVFXUkFx5Y8

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