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Suncoast Pasco News
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On The Road Again
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Published: March 11, 2009
County and city governments in most parts of Florida are looking in every budgetary nook and cranny for potential savings. As the recession grinds on - likely to set a mark for the longest post-World War II economic downturn - government is learning to do without. That was vividly hammered home last week, when Pasco Sheriff Bob White announced the grounding and break up of the Sheriff's Office air unit. The agency is giving back the four surplus helicopters it got from the federal government and offering the air unit's fixed-wing aircraft for sale.
The move will allow an estimated $600,000 a year to be reallocated. White said the air unit had to go so more deputies can be placed on the street.
The air unit had been around so long, when Gulf View Square mall opened its doors way back in 1980, it was a Sheriff's Office helicopter that took area media photographers aloft for a bird's eye view of the Port Richey-area mall. In announcing the end of the Sheriff's Office air unit, White called the decision "devastating" and "disappointing." The sheriff said the unit's grounding a "last resort." According to White, the Sheriff's Office won't be able to rely on area law enforcement agencies that still have air units for help.
So it will be interesting to see if the loss of the Sheriff's Office air unit has a negative impact on the county's crime rate or other aspects of public safety. If it doesn't, perhaps other law enforcement agencies looking to save money will come back to earth as well.
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