November 18, 1993
After receiving no opposition from county supervisors who
had initially voiced doubts about the purchase, the Fairfax County Police
Department has gone ahead with plans to replace a $ 1.5 million helicopter that
crashed last summer.
The helicopter crashed moments after takeoff Aug. 24 because
its pilot and co-pilot forgot to unplug it from a battery unit on the ground.
Board Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R) and Supervisor Ernest
J. Berger (R-Dranesville) questioned last month whether the helicopter, one of
three in the police fleet, needed to be replaced. Fairfax County is the only
area jurisdiction in Virginia with its own police helicopters.
"If a kid asks for a glass of Coke, and you give it to him
and he drops it, do you give him another one? Of course not," Davis said
at the time. He contended that some of the 18 officers in the helicopter unit
could be reassigned to understaffed police units. But neither Davis nor Berger
made any attempt to stop the purchase when it was described to the Board of
Supervisors at its meeting this week.
.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
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permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.