Saskatoon police clarify use of plane to spy graffiti suspect

Police in Saskatoon are clarifying details about the use of its air support unit when it tracked down an alleged teenage graffiti artist last week.

In a news release, police said that last Thursday they received a call that a woman had been spotted doing graffiti in an alley in the 400 block of 4th Avenue North.

Around 3:40 p.m. CST, the police airplane was deployed to circle the area.

That prompted questions from the public about the expense of using the plane for that type of case.

Police media spokesperson, Kelsie Fraser, said the plane was already in the air when the call came in. 

"The air support unit was not just up there to catch a graffiti incident. The plane was already up there," Fraser said. "They weren't just up there solely for the purpose of this call."

Fraser said the plane was about one and a half kilometres away and it took officers about 30 seconds to spot the suspect from above.

"They were able to keep their eyes on the suspect until a patrol unit was able to affect the arrest which happened approximately five minutes later," Fraser said. 

An 18-year-old woman was taken into custody without incident.

The young woman is now facing 24 charges of mischief. 

Fraser said in 2014 the air support unit responded to more than 1200 calls and was involved in the arrest of 137 people. She said 74 of those people would have escaped without the aircraft on scene.