Arista thanked for law enforcement support

The newest addition to the Wiregrass Aviation Support Program was unveiled June 2 as Arista Aviation Services personnel turned a refurbished OH-58 helicopter over to WASP law enforcement officers.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson and Dothan Police Chief Will Benny accepted the freshly re-painted black and white helicopter from Arista Aviation Services Chief Operating Officer Rob Dodson.

Initiated by the Dale County Sheriff’s Department, WASP is comprised of law enforcement officers from Dale, Houston and Coffee Counties and the Dothan, Enterprise and Ozark law enforcement agencies.

The helicopter will be used in the WASP program in partnership with many local agencies to patrol the Wiregrass area and to be the force multiplier for those agencies, said DCSO Chief Deputy Mason Bynum.

“This valued support from Arista Aviation makes it possible to do what we do,” said Olson.

Arista Aviation Services, with locations in Enterprise and Santa Maria, Calif., is a Federal Aviation Administration approved Repair Station, which repairs, maintains, upgrades and refurbishes helicopters.

“We moved here in 2014,” said Dodson. Anything we can do to help law enforcement with their law enforcement needs, we’re more than willing to help out.

“These guys put their lives on the line every day,” Dodson added. “Any way we can help out to keep our community safe through these assets like this we’re more than willing to help out.”

“It costs a lot of money to keep aviation assets in the air, however, if they can use their money to actually do operations and help the community, we can offset some of those costs by helping out,” Dodson added. “These guys put their lives on the line every day, so anyway we can help out and keep the community safe through these assets like this we are more than willing to help out.”