The future of the Winnipeg Police Service’s helicopter Air1 could be under review.
"We’re certainly engaged in conversations respective of a review, what would that look like, what areas would we examine, what's the return on the investment, what does the community think of it?" said WPS Deputy Chief of Operations Gord Perrier.
A review by the previous NDP government was recently cancelled. However, Perrier said talks about a thorough review are in the preliminary stages.
"Are you going to look at that internally, are you going to do it externally and sometimes, there is a blend. It could be a blend as well,” Perrier said.
The Winnipeg Police Board said it would normally do a review of major costs. It told CTV Winnipeg Monday it will be asking the police service if it is worth the expenditure of Air1.
University of Manitoba Criminologist Frank Cormier said a review is a good move.
"Clearly the big question is, 'is the money being spent worth it?'” he said.
“It's very high profile and a rather controversial item, and I think in the interest of public confidence, as well as in the operational and public safety aspect, I think it's essential a really thorough review is done of this thing," he said.
This comes after WPS released a new report with details on the 2016 operations of the helicopter.
According to flight operation statistics, the helicopter logged 27 per cent less air time in 2016 compared to the year before.
Police said roughly 170 hours were lost due to weather, maintenance and staffing issues. That's up nearly 20 per cent from the year before.
Air1 also received 35 per cent fewer calls for service.
