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LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

(lapdhelicoptertracker.com)
100 points polalavik | 7 comments | 21 Nov 25 22:11 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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BadBadJellyBean ◴[21 Nov 25 22:48 UTC] No.46009959[source]▶
I find it interesting that the question is "why don't they use drones". My question is: why so much air surveillance? I live in Germany. The only times I hear a helicopter is if someone is being rescued or if someones missing. I rarely see them at all.
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shoddydoordesk ◴[21 Nov 25 22:52 UTC] No.46009992[source]▶
There are high speed police chases (100mph+) in Los Angeles — no exaggeration — on an almost daily basis. Air support is the primary defense tool for law enforcement.

It's so bad that the local TV stations have their own choppers and a dedicated on-screen UI tailored for the chases with GPS-based tracking and speed.

If you're lucky you can catch one of the many YouTube live streams. Here's one from....two days ago: https://www.youtube.com/live/uGiJU-FlpdE

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BadBadJellyBean ◴[21 Nov 25 23:12 UTC] No.46010186[source]▶
Then why do you have so many car chases? That seems like an odd problem. There must be a reason.
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ripberge ◴[21 Nov 25 23:15 UTC] No.46010221[source]▶
I have only been to Germany once, but my assessment was that we have a very different population here.
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1. BadBadJellyBean ◴[21 Nov 25 23:20 UTC] No.46010257[source]▶
Possible but it seems like the chases are not even a US problem but more a "certain places" problem. I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.
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2. dylan604 ◴[21 Nov 25 23:30 UTC] No.46010349[source]▶
> I genuinely wonder what the cause of this behavior is.

Seriously? It's from people not wanting to be arrested and go to jail. If they get away, perfect. If they don't, well, they were going to jail anyways. Now they have a cool story to tell while in jail. These are not people getting pulled over because they rolled a stop sign. These are people doing dirt, know it, and are willing to try something to avoid getting caught. It's really not complicated

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3. samdoesnothing ◴[22 Nov 25 00:15 UTC] No.46010700[source]▶
I think they're asking why there's such a large population of people willing to commit crimes and then get into high speed chases.
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4. dylan604 ◴[22 Nov 25 00:20 UTC] No.46010736{3}[source]▶
The cause of the behavior (as phrased when asked) is not wanting to go to jail. Asking why people are in situations where they are committing crimes that could land them in jail is a totally different question. Typically, poverty. Also common, addiction.
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5. wredcoll ◴[22 Nov 25 01:12 UTC] No.46011102{4}[source]▶
Except that people around the world generally don't want to go to prison, so why do americans have more high speed chases?

(assuming they do in fact have more per capita/car...)

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6. WarOnPrivacy ◴[22 Nov 25 01:47 UTC] No.46011304[source]▶
> Possible but it seems like the chases are not even a US problem but more a "certain places" problem.

We see drivers here do 100 here sometimes. Then we seem them slow down when they have enough. We're not seeing choppers launched and 22 cops also driving aggressively when it happens (and ramping up the risk to everyone else).

7. c420 ◴[22 Nov 25 01:59 UTC] No.46011374{5}[source]▶
I'm going to guess... because we can? Police here are willing to chase for almost anything in most jurisdictions. I bet there are restrictions on what constitutes a chasable offense in the rest of the world.