Sarasota Sheriff's Office adds safety, abilities with new helicopter

Approved by county commissioners in 2023 and now on duty, the newest helicopter serving the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is first and foremost a “police car that flies.’’

But beyond its un-car-like 170 mph top speed and its ability to reach across the county in under 10 minutes, the 2024 Bell 429 has one capability its predecessors didn’t, says Sheriff’s Office Chief Pilot Dave Bouffard.

The metallic green helicopter that arrived in March has two turbine engines instead of just one. While adding a wider margin of flight safety for the crew, the more powerful aircraft also has improved lifting abilities to, say, rescue victims from rooftops or carry water buckets for firefighting when lives or property are in danger.

“It was purchased specifically for the capability of doing hoisting operations, in case we get another mass flooding event,’’ said Bouffard, who has been flying with Sarasota County for 15 years and has experience as a patrol officer, a civilian pilot, and now a combination of both.

Outfitted for service with the sheriff’s department, the helicopter plus additional equipment and other related expenses cost just over $12 million, which included about a $1.3 million trade-in allowance of a 2005 model Bell 407 single-engine helicopter previously in the fleet. The aviation unit, which is based in Venice, now operates a 2012 version of the Bell 407 and its newest model. Trained pilots and tactical officers can operate both, Bouffard said, adding he has about 30 hours to date flying the new arrival.

Sheriff Kurt Hoffman in March 2023 proposed the Bell 429 upgrade to commissioners, saying the department’s older two helicopters would need costly upgrades and more frequent maintenance in years to come. The new helicopter arrives with a three-year, 1,000-hour factory warranty. That would “avoid an estimated $1.4 million in overhauls that would be required over the next two years if the 2005 aircraft was continued to be utilized,’’ Hoffman wrote then, seeking funding to be added to his office’s five-year capital improvement budget. The 2005 model had about 9,500 flight hours logged. The previous two aircraft cost the county just over $5 million total to purchase — one in 2005 and one in 2018.

At the same time, about $859,000 was sought to upgrade the 2012 helicopter’s equipment to the standards of the new one. About $4 million in hangar upgrades at centrally located Venice Airport were approved separately in 2024.

The aviation unit operates as part of the Special Operations Bureau, also home to SWAT, the mounted-patrol unit, marine unit, police-dog unit and more. But the role of the helicopters and the crews who fly them are similar and connected to deputies and police officers on the ground, Bouffard said.

The pilots and tactical deputies respond to calls often based on their own judgment, taking advantage of the view from about 1,000 feet and the capabilities of their optical gear that can spot a specific car from 5 miles. Though on call around the clock, the air crews work two of three shifts a day, six days a week routinely patrolling the county and responding to calls just like a road-patrol deputy would.

“We are a police car that flies," he said. "Because of the nature of what we’re doing, we’ve got speed on our side, and we obviously have the observation platform, so we can see everything. We can get there first a lot of times and once we get there, we’ve got a great view of what’s going on."

Finding missing people, helping spot suspects who might be hiding or fleeing, and directing deputies during vehicle pursuits are all typical missions. 

Crews also connect to the communications networks of surrounding agencies; therefore, they can assist Manatee County, Sarasota Police, or Longboat Key Police if needed. 

Likewise, if adjoining counties can help with air service in Sarasota County, they will. Manatee and Charlotte counties operate in the air. DeSoto County does not. Often, it’s a matter of who is flying, when and where, he said.

“We’re not like a fire department where we’re sitting in the hangar waiting for a call to come out,’’ Bouffard said. “Sometimes, that does happen, when the guys on the ground need us for something specific, something we can specifically help with.’’

Bouffard said the Bell 429’s twin engines make overwater flying more reassuring, because typical helicopters can land safely after an engine failure, but with limited options. With twin engines, “I have an engine failure over a populated area, like downtown Sarasota? I just fly back to the airport. It’s a non-event.’’

Even so, there are limits. In the case of missing boaters or other such maritime search and rescue flights, the Sheriff’s Office now has a little more leeway to venture offshore, but mostly to help find a stricken boat. Bouffard said they’d be fine searching and sticking with victims below while a marine unit boat responded or some other agency more suited to sea rescues.

“We make no pretense," he said. "We are not the Coast Guard.’’