MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Merced County Sheriff’s Office added a new helicopter to its fleet. Over a year in the making, Merced County law enforcement agencies all put together monies seized from criminal activity to purchase the $400,000 helicopter. "No general fund accounts were used for this," said Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke. Warnke says their new helicopter will primarily be used for patrol and search and rescue. "The technology that's in this specific helicopter, it's got a camera base on it and that camera got an extremely powerful zoom lens, but it also has the capability at nighttime to see people running because of the heat signatures," Warnke said. With the new chopper, the Sheriff's Office now owns three aircraft and maintains a fourth, that is government-issued. "We use the Huey like a truck, and if we need to move some big things or move multiple, multiple people, SWAT team, and so on." Warnke says the additional helicopter will help mitigate their ongoing staffing shortages, but they'll still need deputies on the ground. "The helicopter can only do so much, they can follow a pursuit, but they can't [be] involved in actually stopping the pursuit." At the end of 2023, the sheriff went before the county board of supervisors to express this issue. As of today, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office staff is currently down 25% from optimum levels. Warnke says the county is doing what it can, with the available funding. "Most folks know who I am and know, I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that this agency has got the personnel needed to protect the citizens in this county," said Warnke. And there will be three pilots trained to operate this new chopper.