Winnipeg mayoral candidate Glenn Murray says he’d like to replace the city’s police helicopter with cheaper surveillance drones.
Murray announced Monday night that if elected this fall, he would retire Air1, the Winnipeg police’s EC120B Colibri helicopter.
The city purchased the helicopter in 2010 for $3.5 million and now spends about $2.2 million a year to keep it in the air.
Murray said it was too expensive to operate and was already outdated given the improvements in remotely piloted aerial drones.
“I think the technology has advanced beyond that. I think this is really expensive. I think it’s past the best-before date as a concept,” Murray said in an interview Monday night.
“I think there are much better ways to spend public money than on a helicopter.”
At $2.2 million, the helicopter’s annual operating costs represent less than one percent of the police department’s $320 million budget.
According to the 2020 Police Aviation Operations Report, the latest published, the helicopter attended 2,446 incidents, helped locate 738 suspects or missing people and took part in 101 vehicle pursuits that year.
Police also credited the helicopter with saving 13 lives in 2020. The flight operations unit prevented seven suicides and saved six people from a house fire, the report said.
Moe Sabourin, president of the Winnipeg Police Association — the union representing police officers — said he doesn’t think Murray understands the benefits Air1 provides in terms of reduced pursuits and lives saved.
“I think he’s hearing from a very small minority that wants to be trashed,” Sabourin said via text message.
However, Murray said the money allocated for the helicopter could have been spent in other ways.
“You have to find savings somewhere, and we need to shift our dollars to healthier and safer neighborhoods,” he said.
“For the cost of a few weeks of helicopter work, you could have many more drones deployed in many vehicles.”
Murray said he had not formed an opinion about the police’s armored rescue vehicle, the Terradyne Gurkha MPV, purchased for $383,000 in 2015.
In both cases, the mayor of Winnipeg does not have the authority to direct police operations. Lax oversight of the police service falls to the Winnipeg Police Board.
Murray acknowledged this, saying he would advise the police board to eliminate the police helicopter.
Murray, who previously served as mayor from 1998 to 2004, is one of 11 candidates registered to run for mayor this fall.
The other candidates are Idris Adelakun, Rana Bokhari, Chris Clasio, Scott Gillingham, Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Sean Loney, Jenny Motkaluk, Rick Shawn, Desmond Thomas and Don Woodstock.
Civil elections are held on October 26.
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