Modesto City Council OKs Spending Nearly $750,000 for Police Airplane

Mar. 1—The Police Department should have its own airplane patrolling Modesto as early as mid April after the City Council approved the purchase Tuesday night.

Council members voted 7-0 to spend as much as $741,578 for a 2012 GippsAero GA8 equipped with a FLIR Star Safire 380 HD imaging system and other high-tech gear that works in the day and in the night.

The aircraft's camera system was a big selling point for council members.

The camera rotates 360 degrees so it can record in any direction. Assistant Chief of Police Ivan Valencia said the camera can produce a livestream of exceptional quality and from great distance.

He said anyone watching the video would think the aircraft "was standing still in the sky."

Valencia said he looked at a video shot from the airplane at 3,500 feet elevation at something two miles away. He said watching the video was like being right there at the spot of what was being recorded.

Valencia said the aircraft can respond faster than officers on the ground and provide the video evidence they need to catch a reckless driver, burglar or other criminal. He said officers on the ground can look at the video in real time and a street map can be superimposed on the video feed.

Valencia said the aircraft can make vehicle pursuits safer by allowing officers on the ground to fall back as the plane follows the suspect.

He said it also lessens the risk for officers and the people they encounter. The aircraft's camera system can give officers on the ground such information as whether a suspect is armed, whether other people are with him and his demeanor before officers engage with someone.

Valencia has said when a call comes in, the officer in the airplane will enter the call's location into the camera system and it will immediately focus on that location and start recording.

While two members of the public spoke in favor of the purchase, several more raised concerns and questions, including whether the Police Department had done enough research, why it was not looking into buying a helicopter and how else it could spend the nearly three-quarters of a million dollars that is going for the airplane.

Valencia said helicopters make sense when an agency has to conduct search and rescue missions or access areas not easily reached by vehicles. He said that is not the case for Modesto. He said helicopters cost several times more than what Modesto is paying for the GippsAero GA8 and cost about twice as much to operate and maintain.

An Australian aircraft

A Police Department report states it would cost about $394,000 annually to maintain and operate the aircraft. That includes $60,000 to pay part-time, commercially rated civilian pilots to fly it. Valencia said the department is talking with local pilots interested in flying the GA8.

An Australian company manufactured the GippsAero. The GA8 is a light utility aircraft that can be used for search and rescue, surveillance and observation, and for carrying freight or skydivers. It can carry seven passengers. There are not many GA8 models in use. Media reports put the number at roughly 250 globally.

There are 61 in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. That includes seven with the California Highway Patrol and one each with the sheriff's departments in San Bernardino and Orange counties.

Valencia said obtaining replacement parts for the GA8 is not an issue. Modesto checked with other law enforcement agencies that use the airplane and he said the only complaint was that the plane was not fast enough. He said that came from state agencies that patrol large areas. The GA8 flies at 60 to 150 mph.

Modesto is using its traffic safety and state law enforcement supplemental funds to purchase the plane. Valencia said the traffic safety fund cannot be spent on officers' salaries and while the other fund can, it would not be prudent to do so. He said this is because the amount and timing of the funding vary widely from year to year.

The Police Department will primarily use the GA8 for patrol. The airplane's two-person crew would consist of a pilot and a police officer acting as an observer. It could be in the air about 20 hours a week. When and where it flies would be based on a Police Department analysis of crime trends and other factors.

It would be based at the Modesto Airport. The GA8 can be in the air for six hours before it needs to be refueled.

Valencia said in an interview that it is not uncommon for police departments, even ones smaller than Modesto's, to have a helicopter. He was aware of one other California department with an airplane.

Redlands no longer has plane

The Redlands Police Department in Southern California purchased a 1967 Cessna 172 in 2007 and operated it with volunteer pilots and a police officer serving as an observer.

The department's last Facebook post for its airplane apparently was in February 2017 regarding the plane flying over orange groves and spotting a stolen trailer and with the property from the trailer scattered in the groves.

Redlands City Manager Charles Duggan said in an email that his city's police department did not have an aircraft when he arrived three years ago. "We did not own the plane when I arrived, and it isn't something about which I have any information," Duggan said.

The aircraft Modesto is buying originally was purchased by Pennsylvania for its attorney general's office. Modesto will pay $8,800 for a pilot to fly the plane across the country. That includes the cost of fuel for the plane and lodging for the pilot. Valencia said weather permitting the plane could be flown here in late March and be patrolling Modesto by mid April.

Modesto actually would be buying the plane from Southern California-based CNC Technologies. Valencia said Pennsylvania is trading in its GA8 airplane with CNC Technologies for an upgraded one.

Valencia said Modesto has had the aircraft inspected by an FAA-certified mechanic and had its maintenance logs reviewed. He said the aircraft has a full set of logs. Valencia has said a properly maintained GA8 has a lifespan of 40 to 50 years.

This story was originally published March 1, 2023, 12:58 PM.

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