City Council on Tuesday evening authorized the Police Department to purchase a new helicopter to replace an aging aircraft that requires frequent maintenance.

What it will cost: Purchase price for the Bell 505 helicopter is $2,062,242. A contract with CNC Technologies to upfit the helicopter with police mission equipment is $1,896,049, for a total purchase amount of $3,958,292.

The new aircraft will increase the Air Support Unit fleet to two.

Why it’s needed: Police Department aerial support, via helicopter, can provide valuable and timely information during events such as missing persons, kidnappings, robberies, shootings, large-scale disasters, assisting the Fire Department during large fires, and searching fields or bodies of water. The ability to safely and efficiently guide officers and other resources can help protect the health, safety and welfare of residents and public safety personnel.

Historically, FWPD has had a fleet of at least two operational helicopters. Two existing helicopters are no longer in service due to significant age and accumulated flight hours, reducing the fleet to a single flightworthy helicopter, called “Air1.”

Between May and December 2023, Air1 was unable to provide air support on 59 days due to unavoidable maintenance; one maintenance event took three weeks to complete. The Police Department estimates that during the scheduled and unscheduled maintenance events in 2023, Air1 was unavailable for more than 250 missions. In the next 18-24 months, Air1 will need intensive and required 3,000-flight-hour maintenance, which will take it out of service for a month or longer.