The Pasadena Air Force

Living in Pasadena, one simply does not expect to be under siege from military-style helicopters.  Night and day, they roam overhead, searchlights at maximum intensity, avidly patrolling the deadly streets of Pasadena.  It would seem more reasonable to think we were all part of a big movie set.  Or a video game.  But, no, these helicopters are for real, used by the Pasadena police as a legitimate tool to enforce and deter crime.  Yes, to deter crime.  And I'm not kidding when I call it the Pasadena Air Force.  The police are using actual military planes from the Vietnam War era, which they got for free from a military surplus program.  Okay, they no longer have gun turrets or armor plating, but I still feel like Robert Duvall is going to pop out and napalm me.  (I will give the Pasadena council points for knowing how to get free stuff.)

There are more details in "Trouble Above", a very interesting article in the Pasadena Weekly.

Pasadena Air Force Open House

Last June, the Pasadena Police Department’s Air Operations Section hosted an open house. We went and was impressed by how much hardware the police department so proudly displayed. Like their SWAT vehicle (in case there's a zombie attack), which was used in a demo of what the police department would do if there ever was a sniper in town. Here are some pictures.

Helicopters

(Stats from someone obsessed with the preponderance of helicopters in the Greater LA area:

LA:

Population: 3,849,378
Helicopters: 17*
People per helicopter: 226,434

Pasadena:

Population: 146,518
Helicopters: 4*
People per helicopter: 36,629

As you can see, Pasadena has many more helicopters in ratio to people than LA: so what gives, Pasadena? (We've taken to calling the helicopters the Pasadena Air Force.)

*Helicopters owned by the police. (I bet the figure doubles if you include helicopters used by the media.)