If taxpayers are looking for a black-and-white answer on whether the Winnipeg Police Service’s crime-fighting helicopter is “worth the money” they’re not going to get one.

That’s because like most police spending, it’s nearly impossible to put a dollar value on law enforcement services.

The police helicopter and its $1.9-million annual cost is once again in the public eye in the wake of news that the province is changing how it’s funding municipalities. The province was paying for the annual operating cost of the chopper. Under the new funding formula, the province will provide municipalities with block funding and allow them to spend the money as they see fit.

That has raised the question once again about whether Air 1 is worth the money.

So far, most of the focus has been on the fact that the chopper flew fewer hours last year than in previous years, which is not a useful measurement of its worth. It flew less hours because of maintenance issues and because the chopper needed a new infrared camera, the key tool on the aircraft that allows it to identify bad guys on the ground where police cruiser cars can’t.

Identifying suspects on the ground, including taking over car chases, is really what the chopper is all about. It can zoom into crime scenes within seconds through its GPS-driven, thermal imaging system and zero in on possible suspects almost immediately when a call comes in — well before patrol cars arrive.

How do you measure the value of that in terms of dollars? You can’t really, not any more than police can measure the value of two-officer cars patrolling the streets at night.

What’s the value of the police’s K9 unit? Police dogs are instrumental in helping cops sniff out bad guys and drugs. The WPS has one of the most advanced K9 units in the country and even does its own in-house breeding. It’s expensive, but it’s needed. It just doesn’t get the same scrutiny as the police chopper, even though the two units work hand-in-hand.

Has anyone tried to put a dollar value on the police’s full-time emergency response unit? It used to be part-time. They made it full-time several years ago. Is it needed? Is it worth the money? How do you measure that?

Could cops make do with a part-time ERU again? Sure they could. But I wouldn’t recommend it.

The bottom line is police use various tools to do their jobs. Cops were recently equipped with two-shot Tasers, replacing their one-shot devices. Was it needed? Yes, because it’s a safer alternative to using lethal force when appropriate and two shots gives cops a better chance of subduing a violent suspect. Could police have done without that expenditure? Of course.

They could have done without their new $343,000 armed vehicle, too. But it helps them do their jobs safer and more effectively in dangerous situations.

Over the past five years, the police helicopter was dispatched to an average of 2,228 calls per year, everything from break-ins, robberies and weapons calls to domestic disturbances and traffic stops. Of those, the chopper was responsible for identifying 219 suspects on average per year, in most cases resulting in criminal charges. Those suspects would not have been immediately located without the chopper, or not at all. It would have cost police an unknown amount of money to further investigate.

The chopper helps find missing persons, is instrumental in taking over car chases and making them safer, provides cover for ground patrols, responds to calls quicker and can help redeploy ground patrols and helps nearby law enforcement agencies.

Is all that worth $1.9 million a year, about a quarter of which is police salaries? It’s impossible to draw an objective conclusion on that.

With the province’s new block funding, the city and police will have to decide how best to use scarce taxpayers’ resources. And there’s no doubt the WPS has to contain its costs.

But for my money, having aerial support as one of the many tools police use to fight crime is money well spent.