(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
February 25, 2015 - 10:10 AM
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Don't expect to see RCMP helicopters flying overhead as often going forward, a Kamloops-based RCMP helicopter will be handed over to the North District this April leaving only one to cover the entire district.
“They’re moving the one from Kamloops to Prince George. (The district-level decision) was based on the fact that they didn’t have a helicopter in the North District,” Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush says.
Bush says the decision means Kamloops RCMP will rely on the district’s second helicopter based in Kelowna. The move will add a time delay to immediate response cases.
“A lot of the stuff we use the helicopter for is pre-planned,” she says. "For immediate response, there will be a time delay."
If the helicopter is called upon to respond to more than one event, Bush says incident responses will be prioritized.
The helicopter will permanently leave its hangar near Kamloops Airport on April 1.
To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015