The City of Winnipeg has already budgeted $3.5 million toward the purchase of a police helicopter, but there are still questions surrounding the justification of this spending.

City councilor for Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Jenny Gerbasi said city council was told that the police were writing a cost-benefit report exploring the use of the money toward a helicopter versus other forms of expenditures, but that report was not available by the time the project was approved by council.

“We should be making a decision based on a balanced look at the facts,” said Gerbasi. “There’s been no analysis and the public deserves more information, and so do the city councillors who voted on it in absence of a proper report.”

Police constable Nick Paulet, one of the officers who wrote the report, said it would be available by Jan. 8. It in fact was available, hidden deep within the city website in a section of city council minutes for Jan. 11, well after the project was approved.

Gerbasi was not impressed with the timeliness of the report.

“The report was released after an outcry for it. We already voted on the funding.”

While the city has approved $3.5 million for the initial purchase, city council is waiting for a response to a request for an additional $1.3 million-per-year commitment from the provincial government to cover the operating budget.

A recent Winnipeg Sun article alleges that the helicopter could be used for issuing traffic tickets.

“I wouldn’t put anything past them on the lengths they will go to make money for their budget,” said Larry Stefaniuk, a former traffic officer who now runs the Wise-Up Winnipeg campaign in opposition to the city’s photo enforcement.

Paulet refutes this allegation, saying the helicopter will fly too high to get personal images such as license plates.

“ There’s been no analysis and the public deserves more information, and so do the city councilors who voted on it in absence of a proper report.

Jenny Gerbasi, city councillor

“It can’t [get personal images] at 1,500 feet, which is where it would stay.”

Paulet said the helicopter would fly this high in order to avoid noise pollution and privacy issues. He said the helicopter would deal with traffic enforcement for evidence gathering in cases such as street racing and impaired driving.

A police helicopter would be handy in a multitude of situations, according to Paulet. Some uses of the helicopter would include criminal flight management (tracking suspects on foot or in vehicle), resource management (meaning less patrol units required at large scenes), missing persons support and crowd management.

This means pot-smokers can potentially expect a hovering aerial presence at the next 4:20 rally at the legislative building.

“There always has to be a balance between public safety and protecting people’s individual rights to privacy,” said Paulet, regarding issues of monitoring large crowds.

For links to the police report and information sheet, visit Samuel’s blog at http://uniter.ca/blog.