HEFTY OPERATING COSTS MAY LEAD TO HELICOPTER'S SALE

STOCKTON -- A helicopter bought by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office
in 2002 likely will be sold by the end of the year.

The Hughes 500D helicopter was grounded six months ago because it cost too
much to operate, said Sheriff Bob Heidelbach. The state's budget crisis and
declining federal grants forced officials to lock away the chopper in a
hangar at Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

"It costs a lot of money to put those up in the air," Heidelbach said
Tuesday. "It would really be nice to continue to use the helicopter. But it
just got to the point where it isn't cost-effective."

Heidelbach is expected to ask county supervisors in early September for
permission to sell the helicopter. Once the sale is authorized, it will be
advertised in various publications and either auctioned or directly sold,
county purchasing agent Cliff Baumer said.

The 25-year-old helicopter recently was appraised at $365,000, Baumer said.
The county bought the chopper for $400,000 from the Sacramento County
Sheriff's Office three years ago. The chopper and a Cessna 206 airplane
were acquired using a federal methamphetamine-fighting grant, Heidelbach
said. The grant was cut drastically over the past few years -- from
$661,000 in 2004-05 to $476,000 this year.

In the meantime, the vast majority of the county's air drug surveillance
has been done with the plane, which flies higher, makes less noise and
isn't easily detected, Heidelbach said. The helicopter is great for
population centers such as Los Angeles or counties with rocky or wild
terrain, he said, but not as necessary in San Joaquin County.

Proceeds from the sale will go toward the San Joaquin Metropolitan
Narcotics Task Force, which has lost 10 of 20 agents in the past few years
because of budget cuts, Heidelbach said.

"We're trying to get a few more bodies," Heidelbach said. "That will help
pay for new staffing over the next couple of years."

Though the method of sale isn't known, the chopper most likely will be
auctioned off, Baumer said. Bidders don't have to be law enforcement
agencies, either.

"It can be bought on the open market," he said.