Chicago may never replace Los Angeles as the center for crime-fighting by whirly-bird. But, there’s a new high-tech helicopter in the air to assist police officers on the ground.
On Thursday, Mayor Daley, retiring police Supt. Phil Cline and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart showed off the new $2.1 million helicopter purchased with Homeland Security funds. It was positioned on the lakefront, alongside a former Chicago Fire Department helicopter retrofitted for police use last year.
The new chopper has all of the bells and whistles, including night vision instrumentation that allows officers wearing night-vision goggles to see in the dark; a gamma radiation detector that could be used to locate dirty bombs; and a LoJack stolen vehicle detection system. It’s also equipped with a special map system, powerful video cameras that can downlink pictures to Chicago’s 911 emergency center and a searchlight.
Via: The Sun Times