The City of Peoria, Arizona has signed a purchase agreement for a Bell 505 rotorcraft. This will be the first helicopter to join the Peoria Police and Fire Department's newly-launched joint Aviation Unit that will support firefighting and law enforcement missions.

“We are thrilled that the Peoria Police and Fire Department have chosen Bell to lead the creation of their aviation unit,” says Lane Evans, managing director, North America. “The Bell 505 is a dynamic aircraft that has proven its success in being the ultimate public safety enhancement for law enforcement units worldwide.”

The Peoria Police Department will use their new Bell 505 in conjunction with the Peoria Fire Department to provide aerial public safety support to its 195,000 residents located in the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona and surrounding West Valley cities. With the added capabilities of the Bell 505, the Aviation Unit plans to rapidly increase emergency response times throughout the city and expand its public safety missions, including its search and rescue efforts and firefighting services.

“The City of Peoria is 180 square miles, with an overall planning area of 233 square miles, which is a lot of ground to cover for our public safety teams,” comments Peoria Mayor Jason Beck. “The Bell 505 aircraft is the perfect tool that will get our first responders on scene more quickly and ultimately save lives. We could not be more pleased with the end-product and the support provided to us from the design process to launch.”

Known for its versatile capabilities during public safety missions, the Bell 505 is outfitted with a Safran Arrius 2R engine, dual channel FADEC and Garmin G1000H NXi avionics suite. The Bell 505 remains an ideal aircraft for those in the public safety field for its added benefit of wide panoramic windows, an open cabin design and Synthetic Vision technology.

In addition to the signed purchase agreement, the Peoria Police and Fire Department participated in Bell's police aviation startup consultation service, a unique customer service offering where Bell public safety experts work step-by-step with public safety units interested in launching an aviation unit.