In the past week or two, there have been helicopters flying over my
neighborhood at night.  I would like to know why they have been there and if
there is anything that I need to be worried about in terms of my
family's safety.  I live in the Cambrian area of San Jose, CA.  The
helicopters appear to have been flying over Camden Ave., near Blossom
Hill Rd.  Thank you

Hi forthgradeteacher,

No idea what's so interesting in your neighborhood that it takes
helicopters to police the area, but I have found the resources for you
to find out:

For starters, you could try 311, the non-emergency number.
To focus your call very directly, try this:

Air Support Unit (Fixed Wing/Helicopter) - (650) 960-0114

Police Department Phone List:
http://www.sjpd.org/phonelist.cfm

Community Policing Center
http://www.sjpd.org/communitycntrlocation.cfm
Under "Available Services" note you may ask questions about your community.

I think this is the closest one to you:

Oakridge Community Center
(Oakridge Mall) Westfield Shoppingtown
947 Blossom Hill Road (Located ground Level Garage A)
(408) 360-8350
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Tuesday & Thursday 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM ? 6:00 PM


Police email alerts:
http://www.sjpd.org/MyNeighborhood.cfm?sja_did=8128
The web site is messed up, but scroll down. This is a good way to be
alerted to activity in your area.

San Jose Public CADmine - Online Police Data for your area.
http://www.sjpd.org/PoliceData.cfm
Follow the links to enter your intersection (Camden & Blossom Hill) to
view statistics near that intersection.


An interesting and unusual way to get to the bottom of your question
would be to go on a "Police Ride-Along." Information is here:

Q. Can I go on a police ride-a-long?
http://www.sjpd.org/FAQ.cfm (under Miscellaneous)
..."A. Yes! Every first Wednesday of the month, we hold a ride-a-long
orientation which is mandatory for all persons. Everyone who plans to
go on a ride-a-long must sign-up a month in advance because we have to
background the participants. When you call we will need to know your
DOB, address, phone number and full name..."


MercuryNews.com - Discussion Boards
http://forums.mercurynews.com/kr-mercurynews/start
News Forum


An interesting article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/food_to_go/12910498.htm

Here's radio frequencies in your area:
http://www.saltydogradio.com/irs/IRS-2000.pdf

SAN JOSE inFOCUS 
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/civiccentertv/transcripts/programming/infocus/2002/august/08_02.txt
Radio Show Transcript that was about San Jose Air Support Unit


San Jose Public CADmine - Online Police Data for your area.
http://www.sjpd.org/PoliceData.cfm


I hope this helps you sleep at night!


~~Cynthia


Search terms used at Google:
"San Jose" Police
"San Jose" Cambrian helicopter neighborhood flying overhead
"San Jose" Police "air support unit"

---

Request for Answer Clarification by fourthgradeteacher-ga on 21 Oct 2005 15:19 PDT

Hi Cynthia,
  I don't have any idea either, that's why I asked the question. 
Thank you for finding all the resources for me in one consolidated
place, your reply.
  If you could please find the answer, instead of resources where I
can find the answer, I would appreciate it.
Thank you,
FGT

---

Clarification of Answer by cynthia-ga on 27 Oct 2005 22:41 PDT

I didn't have much luck finding out exactly what they were doing,
however the non-emergencyy line assured me there was no threat to the
public safety. Sorry I couldn't find out more specifics.  Would you
like me to ask the editors to remove my answer so someone else can
give it a try?

This comment is also for Cynthia -- I apologize for putting here, but
I am a total newbie.
Cynthia, thanks for your comment to my my question about the mystery
power cord. I do speak Russian and think that the link you sent me --
to a car owners' group discussing an auto cord for an electric cooler
probably means that is cord is also for my heating pad. I closed the
question before I could thank you.
FGT - pardon me for intruding on your question. I flew in army
choppers 10 years ago as part of a drug interdiction program where we
used FLIR (forward looking infrared radar) to find people growing pot
in their attics. We always flew "blacked out (without lights)"