Thurston County’s sheriff just got a helicopter. Here’s what he wants to use it for
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office has obtained a helicopter to use for rescues and pursuits, but it’s not quite ready for prime time.
Sheriff Derek Sanders briefed the Board of County Commissioners about the helicopter during an Oct. 15 meeting at the Atrium.
The OH-58 helicopter was donated through a military surplus program and recently delivered by truck across the country, Sanders said. Maintenance, pilots and an external human rescue system would be provided free of charge by Northwest Helicopters, a private company and located at the Olympia Regional Airport, he said.
The helicopter arrived as the county is facing a budget deficit and considering cuts in many offices and departments, including the Sheriff’s Office. Despite this, Sanders has pushed forward a nascent aviation program under his own budget authority with the help of donations.
“This entire aviation program is contingent on Northwest Helicopter,” Sanders said. “If they weren’t offering services, then this would obviously be way out of our price point, especially now during all the budget issues.
“Given the circumstances that we’re in, this was just a really good opportunity to at least keep working toward.”
Once operational, the Sheriff’s Office will have air support without relying on help from outside jurisdictions. Sanders said he primarily intends to use the helicopter for pursuits, patrol and canine assistance, search and rescue operations and to assist in emergency management.
“It’s a surplus from the military, but it’s a training helicopter,” Sanders said. “It doesn’t have any missiles. There’s no machine gun. There’s nothing crazy on it.”
Though the helicopter has been acquired, Undersheriff Ruben Mancillas said it will likely take at least six months to a year before the helicopter is ready for use.
“This is definitely not going to happen next week or tomorrow or anything like that,” Mancillas said.
How will the helicopter be used?
Sanders said the helicopter will reduce response times for search and rescue operations and allow deputies to help people stranded in difficult-to-reach areas.
Quicker response times should be especially helpful when responding to the county’s many waterways.
The Sheriff’s Office responded to 222 water rescue calls between 2021 and 2024, according to Sanders’ presentation. Of that total, 148 were on Puget Sound, 23 were on the Nisqually River and 51 were on other waterways.
It can take upwards of 45 minutes for the Sheriff’s Office to respond to incidents on Puget Sound and more than 30 minutes to respond to incidents on rivers, according to Sanders’ presentation. A helicopter may be able to respond in as little as 10 minutes, Sanders said.
Additionally, Sanders said fuel for the helicopter should be cheaper than fuel for a boat.
For example, the Sheriff’s Office possesses a boat called the Integrity that burns about 50 gallons of fuel an hour, according to the presentation. That fuel costs about $9 or more a gallon.
In contrast, the helicopter is expected to burn 25 gallons of fuel per hour at a cost of about $7-8 a gallon.
The helicopter also will be used for “pursuit mitigation,” Sanders said. He cited a recent pursuit on Interstate 5 as an example of a situation where a helicopter would have been helpful.
“I got into a pursuit with it going northbound, but when we were going 145 (miles per hour) in heavy traffic, I asked for air support, and not a single piece of air support was available in the state,” Sanders said. “So, at that point in time, we terminated.”
The pursuit he cited occurred on Oct. 8. It started after Chehalis Tribal Police reported a man slammed a woman onto the ground and placed her into a car near the Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel. Sanders participated in the pursuit but abandoned it near exit 128, The Olympian previously reported.
On Oct. 15, Sanders said the suspect and the woman had still not been located.
“That pursuit started in Chehalis and went to Tacoma,” Sanders said. “That was more than enough time to spin up a helicopter in Tumwater and then follow that and then see that case through. But we just had a lack of assets in the area.”
Additionally, Sanders said the helicopter can be used to spot and track suspects as well as guide deputies with K9 dogs.
The public will not see a SWAT Team repelling down from the helicopter nor will they see it monitoring peaceful protests, Sanders said. However, he clarified that the helicopter may be used during a protest if violence breaks out and law enforcement needs information about the situation.
Lastly, Sanders said he will not use the helicopter for personal transportation.
“You’re not going to see me going to work with it every day, even though that would be kind of cool,” Sanders said. “Actually, I’m just kidding, I’m kind of afraid of heights.”
Tumwater Fire Chief Brian Hurley attended the meeting on behalf of the Thurston County Fire Chiefs Association. He said the fire chiefs “certainly” see the helicopter as a useful asset and supported Sanders’ program.
“This, for me and for our teams, it’s another tool in the toolbox,” Hurley said. “Anything we can do to enhance our capabilities, provide a higher level of service, keep our crews safer is important.”
Ben Miller-Todd, director of Thurston County Emergency Services, said the helicopter will help the county get situational awareness of floods and fires.
The helicopter also can help the county document disaster damage. That can help the county and residents get reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Air aerial assets really do help us on the front end, both for response from the operation side and also from that recovery side, when we’re trying to make sure we’re documenting the dollars coming back into the county from FEMA reimbursement,” Miller-Todd said.
How much will this helicopter cost the county?
Though the helicopter was free, there are other costs the Sheriff’s Office will have to pay.
Transporting the helicopter to Thurston County cost about $15,000. During the meeting, Commissioner Emily Clouse asked Sanders why the board was not asked to approve the transportation cost.
“It didn’t exceed $50,000,” Sanders said. “We don’t bring things before the board that don’t cost more than that. That’s the (Request for Proposals) trigger point where we would need to come before the board.”
Sanders said any cost over $10,000 requires three phone bids and his office followed that policy in this situation.
Additionally, Sanders said his office paid $10,000 to acquire equipment already installed on the helicopter. That money was paid to an out-of-state Sheriff’s Office that previously used the helicopter.
“We cut him a check for $10,000 because the equipment is worth 25 times that,” Sanders said. “So, the worst-case scenario is that we would just sell that equipment and make a profit off of it.”
Labeling on the helicopter indicates it was used by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina, according to images shared during the presentation.
The Sheriff’s Office expects the insurance for the helicopter will cost $12,000 to $15,000 a year, depending on pilot experience, according to the presentation.
Sanders said Northwest Helicopters is expected to maintain the helicopter for free. As of Oct. 15, he said the helicopter had not yet been mechanically inspected.
“Obviously, what we don’t want to have happen is they pull it apart and then there’s $200,000 worth of maintenance that needs to be done off the bat and the program never gets off.”
Brian Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Helicopters, told the board last year that he plans to have about five pilots on staff and at least one should be able to respond to requests from the Sheriff’s Office.
Reynolds previously said his contribution is “strictly a donation to the community.” On Oct. 15, Sanders said he had yet to formalize this agreement with a memorandum of understanding.
Sanders said the helicopter already has avionics, a night vision camera, a spotlight and a rescue system. However, he said it still needs a special law enforcement radio that’s estimated to cost about $94,000.
“At this point in time, we are looking for grants and looking for different ways to get that, that funding,” Sanders said. “That’s the last piece of equipment.”
Sanders said his office has been grouping the donated money with Public Safety Sales Tax revenue for now, but he would like the county to create a dedicated donation fund for his aviation program.
The board ultimately voted to direct the county manager to research how to create such a fund with the Sheriff’s Office. All voted in favor, except for Clouse, who abstained.
As for fuel costs, Sanders said he plans to bill a couple specific funds rather than the county’s beleaguered general fund.
Sanders identified one of the funds as the boater safety fund. He said that fund can be used for anything water rescue related. The second is a drug seizure fund.
“The drug seizure fund money can only be used for anything related to drug interdiction,” Sanders said. “Well, the good news is, pretty much anything that we’re doing out there that’s involving crime is drug related.”
The Sheriff’s Office has received two donations from “high level donors” for the aviation program, one for $19,000 and one for $17,000, he said.
