It's not a bird, it's not a plane — it's a helicopter.

That's what most La Quinta residents say they are noticing more and more these days hovering over their neighborhoods.

“We see the helicopters all the time it seems,” said David Dodson, a La Quinta Cove resident. “It makes me wonder, ‘My God, is the crime bad here?'”

Rick Garrison, who lives off Fred Waring Drive in north La Quinta, said he's been wondering the same. Garrison and his family have lived in the area for nine years, but he said they began noticing an increase in the frequency of helicopter fly-overs in the last 60 days.

“It makes you want to set your alarms more if you didn't before,” he said.

The helicopters residents are referring to are those flown by the California Highway Patrol and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, with which La Quinta contracts for police services.

“Generally speaking, the desert never sees a helicopter and I know for a quiet community like the cove, residents must think there's something wrong if they see one now,” said Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, a spokesman for the department. “But I think overall it's just a fact that we do have resources in the desert now that traditionally were not there before.”

The east valley received its first Riverside County Sheriff's Department helicopter within the last five years, Gutierrez said.

In response to the recent surge of resident and La Quinta Cove Association member inquiries, La Quinta Police Department Community Service Officer Tom Fowler sent an e-mail Thursday to the La Quinta Cove Association detailing the reasons why residents might see or hear a helicopter in the area. Reasons include searching for a criminal and searching for a lost hiker.

Gutierrez said pilot officers are encouraged to take advantage of training opportunities, which can include assisting on routine vehicle stops or exploring the Cove's trails to become more familiar with the terrain.

Either way, he said, the perceived frequency of helicopter activity in the city is no indication of an increase in crime. But when residents see a helicopter circling an area with the spotlight in use, it's best to stay indoors, officials said.

“We don't want anyone to step out in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Fowler said.

Officials also want residents to know that it's not a sign of an unsafe community.

“La Quinta has a unique asset in that it has a CHP helicopter and our helicopter serving them,” Gutierrez said. “That's added support.”

More support is expected to come when the Riverside County Sheriff's Department opens a new facility in Thermal, which will also be equipped with an aviation unit, Gutierrez said.