surveillance from the sky, the “sound of safety”
I don’t know what the phenomenon is, but the sound of helicopters in the West End with all the high rise buildings here makes quite a racket. In my role as WERA President, this is one of the email subjects that we receive on a regular basis: complaints about the sound of helicopters.
With the start of Olympics I somewhat dreaded how it would all would affect me and my family. I thought the real impact would be around transportation and getting the kids to school, but it turns out the buses have been running pretty well thus far. Except the #22, stay away from that bus as it’s a real heart-breaker; better to walk over the Burrard bridge than to wait for that one. Next week will be real test for the buses.
However, the helicopters over the Downtown peninsula have been a bit of a disturbance. I don’t meant to sound cranky, but after a little while the sound of helicopter propellers starts to drill into your head. The sound seems to reverberate between the buildings and is amplified. You can feel the sound on your body.
A while back a friend of mine wrote a message to the RCMP commenting about the helicopter noise over the West End one night and this is part of the response that he received:
“While we regret that we disturbed the peace and quiet of the residences of the West End we are unfortunately unable to control where the bad guys go. Please note that the LMD has one patrol helicopter that covers 2,500 square kilometers of area and services the needs of 2 million + residences. We do not remain in any one area any longer than absolutely required.
I hope this response answers your inquiry. I recognize what a major inconvenience it is to have a helicopter keeping you awake when you have to get up early. We are sorry about the noise, but it is the sound of safety. ”
The last part is the best: “the sound of safety”. Note even the RCMP calls helicopters in the West End a “major inconvenience”.