Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and the county police department are pushing forward with a plan to add two helicopters to its arsenal of crime-fighting tools, despite strong opposition from Council members who say the county can’t afford them.
Council President Phil Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, told Leggett last month that the Council would not approve using grant money to operate the hand-me-down helicopters. The county’s poor financial shape made it unwise to take the aircraft, Andrews wrote in a memo to the county executive, whatever their merits may be.
The county is facing a $370 million budget deficit next year. The helicopters are expected to cost $300 an hour to fly, and cost nearly $4.5 million over the next five years.
But Leggett and the police department have continued to pursue the helicopters despite Andrews’ memo. Lt. Paul Starks said the department is currently evaluating the condition of the two helicopters and has not taken formal ownership of them yet, but plans to.
County officials said the rare chance to get two hand-me-down Army OH-58 helicopters for free, and equip them and run them for two years by using a federal grant and money from assets seized from drug dealers, was too good to pass up.
“We would be remiss in not taking that opportunity,” said Leggett’s spokeswoman Donna Bigler.
Andrews told The Examiner that Leggett’s insistence on pursing the helicopters was “especially untimely, given the looming state aid cuts.” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is set to present $250 million worth of cuts to local governments next week, some of which funding of police departments.
Andrews added that Leggett should understand that the council controls the county’s purse strings and will ultimately have the final say in the matter.
“The county executive, as a former county council member, knows that’s how it works,” Andrews said.
Police officials said helicopters would be a “vital” tool in their efforts to catch criminals and find missing people, and would reduce the risks of high-speed chases.
The county is expecting to use the helicopters for only 600 hours during their first two years in the department’s control, as police officers receive training and the helicopters are equipped with new equipment, like a $250,000 infrared imaging system. But in year five, the helicopters are expected to be used 1,500 hours a year, at an annual cost of $1.6 million.
