Sky-High. I am sorry but you are just plain wrong on this one, and it is perhaps that you just do not understand the nature of the beast. In the first instance an average of 3 hours per day per machine is very high and is well above the usual rate of utilisation for such aircraft. Military machines usualy fly less than 300 hrs!
Neither do you understand the method of operation.
The secret of success, - of catching the bad guys, is being able to have that machine overhead the problem within 15 minutes of the incident starting. That requires constant vigilence of all radio traffic and the ability to get airborne within a couple of minutes of receiving a call.
Once that vital 15 minutes has passed the likelehood of the aircraft being of any use drops off remarkably quickly, the culprits have gone.
Now if as you want, that machine is engaged in other activities during its downtime it will never be in the right place to answer the call and will never be able to be really effective.
In the early days we carried little kit other than a searchlight, but as experience was gained we rapidly built up a formidable array of very effective aids to catching the criminal. Today UK Police helicopters carry kit that would be the envy of many military units. They are VERY effective crime fighters and VERY effective at catching the real bad boys. Your proposals far from making them more effective would for the most part make them totaly ineffective. Quite simply we cannot carry effective Police role equipment and the very high standard of life saving equipment that the modern amulance aircraft carries. The dual role machine will always be a compromise.
Imagine for a moment that you have been critically injured in an accident your life is ebbing away. Then the helicopter that comes to save you cannot carry the proper equipment to save your life because it is also carrying surveilance camera's infrared kit, moving map, night sun etc etc. Pity but thats it!
Or you have just been robbed, the assailants have stolen your car, your valuables and also your baby asleep on the back seat. Tough! The Police helicopter that would have got them within a few minutes is away on the other side of the county picking up someone who has fallen from a horse!
The machines themselves are just too technical to be used for other duties. However significant savings can be made from combining the amin functions of Police, Ambulance and Fire machines. The office equipment, fuel and maintenance contracts could well be shared but not now the machines. Remember SkyHigh you are overlooking one vital aspect. Its not the time the machine is in the air that counts. ITS WHAT IT DELIVERS WHEN ITS OPERATING THAT COUNTS. Why do you think that UK Police air supprt has been so effective for the past 20 years if we have it so wrong?
In short SKY High. Stick to passing judgement on something that you know something
about! By all means PM me and I will send you the background material that you lack.
Tigerfish