The Butte County Sheriff’s Office Aviation assets consist of one OH-58 helicopter, one OH-6 helicopter equipped with FLIR and one Cessna 182 fixed wing plane.  BCSO utilizes these aircraft to locate and eradicate illegal marijuana gardens, assist in Search and Rescue missions, take aerial photographs of crime scenes and assists to patrol officers during pursuits are some of the types of missions our aircraft are used for.  BCSO currently has four helicopter pilots and three fixed wing pilots.  Our pilots use night vision goggles when flying at night which has proven to help locate missing people with only a lighter from miles away.