King County sheriff's new $6 million 'Guardian One' helicopter gets high-tech upgrade

The King County Sheriff’s Office has launched the newest resource in its Air Support Unit. Known as “Guardian One,” the new Bell 407GXi will replace the department’s aging helicopter, which will now be used as a spare.
The new helicopter comes equipped with significant technology upgrades that allow it to fly in weather conditions that the previous Guardian One could not. The new unit is Instrument Flight Rated (IFR), meaning the pilots will have greater ability to navigate various weather and have better situational awareness in the congested airspace around Seattle.
“As we’re going into fall and the foggy weather, and the rainy weather, we will get those life safety calls and sometimes we can’t respond,” Chief Jeffrey Flohr told KOMO News during a demonstration of the new helicopter. “We can’t take off because we’re socked in or we can’t get to the places we need to go.”
The new Bell 407GXi cost around $6 million, but Flohr said there was significant support for the purchase from county and state leaders.
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Jeremy Harris
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[@Praisethesunson]

Cool. Now the cops can get high resolution thermal imaging of all our tent cities.

[@somebodywhocares9293]

And us

[@firecloud77]

"The base purchase price for a new Bell 407GXi is $18 million before options, and the charter price is estimated at $1,400 to $2,000 per hour. While the annual fixed cost is roughly $150,000 to $250,000, the average hourly operating cost is estimated at $700 to $1,000."

[@leif12345]

Cool

[@elfin1358]

How many high tech drones could the police deploy with that budget? So much more bang for the buck using drones instead.

[@SilverGoth]

Congratulations on the major upgrade. I look forward to hearing you on the scanner!

[@elfin1358]

There are very high tech drones now that can fly in much closer to the action and can go in to places where even helicopters can't go. How many of these drones could 6 million buy? So much more bang for the buck. With the technology we have available today, drones have so many more advantages with helping police on the ground do their jobs more effectively.

[@ryant2394]

The uniforms are badass!

[@brentruss2168]

Q. What's the difference between a person you catch sniffing through a kids underwear drawer at a party, and a cop? A. The sniffer doesn't tell you the kid shouldn't mind if they have nothing to hide, because they have more personal integrity than cops. 😂😂😂

[@chrisvanbrocklin5065]

Bacon spend 6 million on a piece of aircraft but yet they cannot spend 6 million to put up housing for homeless pets or homeless kids

[@mychchevelle72ss]

what was wrong with the last helicopter? Could the "new" equipment not have been adapted for the last one that was already paid off? i find it extremely hard to believe the previous helicopter couldnt fly in "adverse" conditions. just seems like the easier way to justify the purchase to tax payers

[@paulkelly7784]

I want to hear from the officers... they prefer the helicopter or a raise?

[@NonotEver1]

Why give them a raise they don't arrest anyone.

[@aaronburns7477]

Their KZbin channel is pretty cool and they upload videos really rapidly.

[@Habdu631]

Get a life BOT 🤖

[@daveg5857]

I'm confused. Did they upgrade an existing helicopter or replace it with a new one?

[@paulkelly7784]

Replace

[@URKlewless]

$6 million so they can catch and release faster🤣🤣

[@Hakman78]

When’s it getting a 30mm cannon?

[@F4UCorsair697]

Such a beautiful aircraft

[@SuperSatturno]

With all corrupt judges siding with criminals, at least the officers can keep their chases tirelessly…

[@KnawedOne]

Cool

[@tomtroy3792]

King County Jail is horrible

[@NonotEver1]

Good

[@IsyaelFelix]

Buy airbus h125

[@Colinmcdougall6996]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@walawala-fo7ds]

Tax all the wealthy people that keep crying their riches keep getting stolen. That ought to buy like 100 of these things

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@walawala-fo7ds are you idiots. Definitely should cripple the rich. Btw did you know you can get rich too.. you just have to show up to work on time 50% of the time.

[@MultiPurposeReviewer]

For the record, I am perfectly happy with my tax dollars being spent on this.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

Drones are a much better use of aerial surveillance.

[@mexifry222]

How about actual cops? This is just an expensive band aid.

[@jdspencer60]

You are also the type of person who is holding the city back from progressing on actual issues. this is a giant waste of money.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@mexifry222 it’s good for car chases for sure. They can’t fly it 16 hrs a day.

[@MultiPurposeReviewer]

@@jdspencer60 Well this is for the county, not the city, so it has no effect on the city's problem-solving; we also didn't vote on it anyway, so I'm not holding anything back; I also have no real say in WHERE my tax dollars get spent, only whether I pay more of them; and why is it a waste of money?

[@deadGrlz206]

Seattle is like a kid that has money. It all just gets spent on expensive stupid toys.

[@elfin1358]

Drones would have been just as, if not more, effective and how many could 6M buy? I don't get it. It would have been far more efficient and cost effective to go with high tech drones.

[@NonotEver1]

What do expect from democrat chimos

[@SeattleSpeed]

6 mil for something that could have been done via a 1k drone...

[@leif12345]

Super dumb take.

[@SeattleSpeed]

@@leif12345 nah, they show in the video dude bip bopping around looking around Tukwila. That’s drone behavior.

[@elfin1358]

There is a fantastic video with Peter Santenello doing a ride along with AZ police that are using drones. Super impressive what high tech drones can do! I don't get the advantage of this heli compared to drones.

[@somebodywhocares9293]

Smdh.