Sheriff's Office Gets 'Longer Arm For Less Cost'

Pasco County Sheriff Bob White is putting criminals on notice that the long arm of the law has gotten longer.

Thanks to the official March 10 opening of the aviation unit’s new 10,000-square-foot hangar on the grounds of the Land O’ Lakes Jail, deputies can better police and patrol the entire county, White said. They can also do so while saving the taxpayers an estimated $60,000 a year.

“From this central location, (we can) launch our aviation unit on a moment’s notice,” White said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This will give us a longer arm for less cost.”

The aviation unit’s four helicopters and one plane were previously housed in a rented hangar on the west side of the county at Hidden Lake Airport in New Port Richey. The new hangar was built by an in-house team of deputies, using free inmate labor. Detective Karl Crawford, who is also a licensed contractor, helped oversee the project along with Spring Engineering’s Richard Bekesh.

Spring Engineering designed the hangar and worked with deputies throughout the construction process.

Building the hangar on the jail grounds to save money, increase efficiency and take advantage of the strategic central location was an idea that was born in-house.

“He (White) probably thought we were crazy when a bunch of us came to him and said, ‘We want to build a hangar,’ ” said Maj. Chris Nocco. “He actually believed in us. Thank you for believing in us.”

Construction on the hangar began in August 2010. The project cost a total of $336,686 thanks to the use of inmate labor and deputy oversight.

The decision to handle the building in-house was made to save taxpayers money, said Kevin Doll, sheriff’s office spokesman. The county had received bids for $1,025,000 and $752,210 from outside companies, but decided to build the project itself for less.

“The cost to the taxpayers was really the central reason we took this on,” said White.

The aviation unit is in the process of moving into the hangar, which is located near the inmates’ garden at 20101 Central Blvd. in Land O’ Lakes.

“To say we’re tickled pink is an understatement,” White said.