Like numerous other police units, the Broward Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit greatly appreciates the Eurocopter range. Two buzzwords say it all: versatility and security.

A fine selection of the Eurocopter range is lined up ready for takeoff on the apron of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, a few miles north of Miami: an AS350 B2 Ecureuil, an EC130 and an EC135, all three in Broward Sheriff’s Office livery.
“Our business relationship with Eurocopter dates back to 1987,” recalls Sergeant Dale Owens, who has headed the BSO’s Aviation Unit for the past two years. “We started out with three AS350 B Ecureuils. After that, we operated AS350 B1 Ecureuils before upgrading to the B2 in 2001.” Two of the Ecureuils have meanwhile been replaced by an EC130 and an EC135. “We didn’t have enough money to buy two EC135s,” observes Sergeant Owens. “However, the EC130 was another excellent choice due to its wide cabin and its similarity to the AS350 B1s that we already had.”
Broward County covers a surface area of 2 600 km2 (26 x 40 miles), with a long coastline. A large section of the county lies in the marshy Everglades, where helicopters are essential for patrol missions and for rapid medevac operations whenever necessary.
“Each of our three helicopters can perform any of these missions, a third of which take place at night,” stresses Owens. “The EC130 and the EC135 are wired for FLIR, but we don’t use night vision goggles because we do not have the means to provide the necessary special flight training.” As director of operations and chief flight instructor for the unit of which he is in charge, Owens naturally places flight safety at the very top of his list of priorities. “I recently created the new position of flight safety officer, and we have made it a rule to systematically brief and debrief all flights without leaving anything to chance.”
The police unit ultimately aims to operate a uniform fleet of light twin-engine helicopters, which offer a high degree of versatility for police missions and medevac operations. This will also facilitate crew training, which is currently performed on three types of aircraft.
“We shall issue a public invitation to tender,” explains Owens. “But we already know that the EC135 caters perfectly for our needs. We also have an excellent relationship with Eurocopter, which has always provided us with technical support that was nothing short of remarkable…”