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Of the country's biggest 10 cities, Chicago has been the only one who hasn't had even a single police helicopter. And we haven't for decades. Ironic since Chicago once boasted about creating one of the nation's first helicopter units. In the 1980's the program was terminated to cut costs. But times, they are a changin'.
Chicago put a police helicopter into service this week and hopes to purchase another one with a federal homeland security grant by the end of the year. The police will be using the helicopter to fight crime and for homeland security. They'll respond to calls for help with pursuits, both foot & vehicle, missing persons, and assist at large public gatherings. They'll be equipped with groovy technology like thermal imaging cameras, a map navigation system, and a video downlink that will let police at HQ have an ariel view from their desks.
All Chicagoist can think of when we hear about police helicopters is 1) car chases and 2) those hopeless scenes from Cops when the suspect is trying to run away on foot, half naked, but the police helicopter is chasing them down with the gigantic light from the sky. Maybe we get a local reality show, now that we got the helicopter, and just following the thing around to see if anything exciting happens.
Images via CPD
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awww man. i know the copters are gonna be after me.
It should identify itself as a CPD helicopter better. I hardly can read that it is the Chicago Police from those photos, from the air it must look like any other civilian helicopter.
Really, you think about the 'Cops' TV show? Gosh.
See, when I hear about police helicopters, I think about the scene in the film adaptation of 1984 ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087803/ ) where a helicopter hovers silently looking in the window of Winston Smith's apartment. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Good thing we have a Constitution, laws, a Congress and Judges who will prevent such things from happening. Oh, wait....
i guess i should correct and say that when i *think* of police helicopters i think about the cops tv show.. but when i *hear* a helicopter, esp a big military one, i think of when i lived in nyc after 9/11
Wow. I can only think that a little lakefront airport near the Loop would be the perfect place to base a police helicopter. If only we had one of those...
Maybe this goes to show you how many "Chicago" movies have been shot in Toronto, but it seems like every Chicago-based movie over the past couple of decades has featured fake Chicago Police Department helicopters. The Fugitive, The Negotiator, and Primal Fear are examples off the top of head.
Plenty of places to land a helicopter near the Loop, Jeremy.
No need for a stupid airport polluting the lake for the sole benefit of rich people and their little touch-and-go landings.
Now I can feel like Henry Hill; May 11, 1980
Magic bus!