The members of the Carmichael Rotary Club were very fortunate to have a special tour of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Air Operations Bureau. The Bureau houses and maintains helicopters in a hangar at the old Mather Air Force base in Mather, CA.
We met at 6 pm and during the imbibing of sandwiches and soft drinks, saw some videos of catching criminals by following them from the helicopter working with officers and sometimes their K-9 (dogs) on the ground.
It was exciting stuff and we saw the great improvement in visual acuity as the department improved their software. We saw various items which can be used for crowd control and an armored vehicle, but most impressive were the Helicopters, two old Huey UH-1H which were acquired through army surplus, and new Star Units EC 120 Helicopters.
The pilots maintain routine patrols, are responsible for homeland defense patrol, working with the Sheriff's department apprehending criminal suspects and missing or lost persons, children etc.
Our main lecturer was Officer Duncan Brown and he was aided by Officers Mike Putnam and Matt Burton. We got to go outside and watch a helicopter take off as it went on patrol.