Some more thoughts for the melting pot :
Police helicopters : Surely there's far more to it than the relative value of the crime committed ( e.g. £30 worth of petrol )
To consider purely the value of goods stolen, or the cost of damage caused as to whether the use of a Police helicopter is justified is, IMHO, a bit narrow minded. Also to be considered should be the cost SAVINGS of Police time on the ground - whatever the "value" of the offence.
There are also other reasons apart from financial ......
e.g. It's 2 am and I see someone prowling around in my back garden - obviously up to no good - I don't think he has tried to break into my house ( yet ) and I call the Police.
The Police arrive - and see the baddie who runs off from them - deeper into the garden area and over a couple of fences. They call for "Back Up" and half a dozen of them surround the area but can't find him, so they call their helicopter to help.
At this point in time, other than trespassing ( a civil offence ? ) no-one knows what the baddie has done, if anything. He might be wanted for a string of break-ins and robberies, or he might just have the proverbially overdue library ticket - who knows ? He must have had a reason for running off so the Police ( I hope ) will want to find him, find out why, and find out what he was up to in my garden.
Without the helicopter they could spend an hour or so searching in the dark, in an unfamilar area, potentially endangering themselves - not knowing whether he is armed and about to attack them from behind the next bush .... or they might decide not to search and let him get away - who knows ?
The helicopter arrives and searches the area in just a few minutes, and SAFELY. ( Wakes a few of my neighbours up but hey - they're now all looking out of their windows too, and will hopefully phone 999 if they see the guy ).
If the bad guy is spotted by the chopper crew, then they talk a Police dog in, or light him up with the search light for Officer safety, and hopefully he gets caught. Maybe not till the next morning when my neighbours get up for work, will we find out what has been stolen or damaged etc.
Whether the bad guy is found or not, there will have been huge savings in Police time on the ground - even if he has already escaped and is not found, the 6 PC's can get on with other work / patrols much quicker, and this alone I would imagine, will have justified the cost of the Police helicopter being there.
How do you measure the savings in Police time, the benefits to the safety of the Police on the ground, the service and response to myself as a taxpayer for reporting the incident, the reassurance of all the other residents in the area knowing the Police were there looking after them, and the Crime prevention factor while the helicopter was there ?
Like I say - there's probably a lot more to it than £30 of petrol so keep up the good work
