LAPD helicopter tracker with real-time operating costs

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

The three most prevalent themes in the discussion are:

The Utility and Cost-Effectiveness of Police Helicopters vs. Drones: Many users questioned the necessity and expense of maintaining the LAPD's helicopter fleet, suggesting that emerging drone technology could serve similar surveillance and pursuit functions more cheaply.
- Supporting Quote: "...why LA is spending thousands/hour when drones exist is crazy." (polalavik)
- Supporting Quote: "I'd be surprised if there was any real need for them to be in the air that often." (autoexec)
The Justification and Dangers of High-Speed Police Chases: A significant portion of the discussion centered on whether high-speed pursuits are necessary or appropriate, especially when initiated for minor infractions, and whether they endanger the public more than they help apprehend suspects.
- Supporting Quote: "The better question is - why do we allow high speed pursuit chases in the first place?" (digdugdirk)
- Supporting Quote: "If you're lucky you can catch one of the many YouTube live streams." (shoddydoordesk)
LAPD Program Oversight and Resource Allocation: Users expressed concern over the apparent lack of oversight for the helicopter division and noted that a large percentage of flight time is dedicated to low-priority activities, framing the program as government waste.
- Supporting Quote: "61% of the flight time was in fact dedicated to low-priority incidents like transportation, general patrols and ceremonial flights..." (0xbadcafebee, quoting audit)
- Supporting Quote: "This is the kind of government waste that needs to be highlighted." (rimbo789)

🚀 Project Ideas

LAPD Air Ops Transparency Dashboard

Summary

A publicly accessible, interactive dashboard that aggregates, visualizes, and cross-references operational data for the LAPD's helicopter fleet (cost, flight hours, mission types, pilot logs).
Solves the transparency and accountability issue raised by users comparing reported mission distribution (e.g., 61% low-priority flights) against public interest derived from the original visualization.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Taxpayers, local oversight committees, investigative journalists, and citizens concerned about government spending/utility.
Core Feature	Interactive time-series charts showing the breakdown of flight time by mission category (e.g., pursuit, patrol, ceremonial), correlation with incident reports, and calculated expenditure per hour.
Tech Stack	Frontend: React/Vue/Svelte with D3.js or Mapbox for visualization. Backend: Python (FastAPI) or Go interfacing with a PostgreSQL database fed via scheduled scraping/API calls to L.A. City Controller data.
Difficulty	Medium (Data acquisition and cleaning from government sources is the main hurdle).
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: Directly addresses the core conflict raised by users like 0xbadcafebee and rimbo789 regarding "government waste" and the need to "highlight" excessive spending, especially citing the audit finding that 61% of flight time was low-priority.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Providing drill-down capability to link flight hours to specific public incidents (if data exists) would generate significant discussion on resource allocation vs. necessity ("Is this flight really worth $2,916/hr?").

Drone Feasibility Scoring & Deployment Simulator

Summary

A tool that allows users (or police analysts mockingly) to model potential drone deployments against common police tasks (e.g., foot/vehicle pursuit monitoring, search patterns) based on current drone specifications.
Solves the technical and political debate by quantifying the feasibility of drone replacement for helicopter tasks, addressing concerns about speed, endurance, and payload.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Public policy analysts, UAV/defense industry competitors, and skeptical police departments looking for ROI justification.
Core Feature	A scenario builder where users input performance parameters (e.g., need to track a 100 MPH car for 45 minutes) and the simulator outputs a list of existing, purchasable drones that could meet the criteria, alongside their operational limits (endurance/speed trade-offs).
Tech Stack	Web Assembly (for complex physics/geometry calculations) or JavaScript simulation engine. Simple configuration interface using React. Data source: Standardized public drone specs (e.g., fixed-wing endurance vs. multirotor payload).
Difficulty	High (Accurately modeling high-speed vehicle tracking physics and airspace logistics is complex).
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: It provides a concrete, tech-driven answer to the "can drones do it?" debate posed by tcdent and hatthew. It moves the conversation from hypothetical support to engineering comparison ("The better question is - why do we allow high speed pursuit..."). If the simulator shows practical drone solutions exist, it fuels the push for modernization.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: It could be used as an educational tool to demonstrate the state-of-the-art in police UAV tech, or conversely, to highlight where current commercial drone tech still falls short compared to manned aircraft in specific high-stress scenarios.

Police Pursuit Mitigation Strategy Recommender (PP-SMR)

Summary

A specialized decision-support system that ingests data on pursuit incidents (offense severity, environmental factors, suspect behavior) and recommends optimal non-chase response strategies based on global best practices.
Solves the systemic issue raised by users like zimpenfish, stefan_, and lukeschlather pointing out that international standards prioritize safety over chase completion (e.g., UK/Irish protocols).

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Police tactical supervisors, policy reviewers, and departments looking to reduce high-risk incidents and associated liability costs (lawsuits).
Core Feature	Workflow engine that evaluates ongoing incidents against pre-loaded, jurisdiction-specific policy matrices (derived from UK/EU standards regarding proportionality). Recommends actions such as "Disengage and Track via Remote Asset" (if air support available) or "Establish Containment Perimeter."
Tech Stack	Standard BPMN/Workflow engine (e.g., Camunda or a custom Python state machine). Integrates with existing dispatch systems via secure API to visualize recommended staging points for static units.
Difficulty	Medium/High (Requires deep, legally nuanced policy ingestion and integration into high-stress operational environments).
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: It directly challenges the American "chase at all costs" culture mentioned by shoddydoordesk and zrobotics, offering a technological path towards measured, internationally recognized restraint ("I think they’re overwhelmingly being chased by a police vehicle after a lawful request to pull over and stop...").
Potential for discussion or practical utility: This moves beyond simply criticizing the LAPD and suggests a tangible, engineered product that could reduce the "two to tango" dynamic by enforcing policy adherence from the command level. It connects directly to the high cost paid in lawsuits (citizenpaul).