Whether it's traffic or major Crime there is strong support for the notion that the thing that stops people killing people, committing white collar crimes, burgling homes, speeding, or just about anything wrong (maybe with the exception of using ice or speed) remains the liklihood of being caught and punished.
Yes, I know this leads to a whole new argument about motivation to get street plods and detectives out there catching crooks and visible police presence..... AND separate argument about crime and appropriate punishment AND separate argument about racial ethnic or religious profiling.
The great 70's UK experiment of centralized policing from large blue citadels robbed people world wide of local street level intelligence. But it was easier to administer. The "local police" were displaced into giant hiding castles and soon lost touch with what crooks were where and doing what to whom. A dispatch car would be sent to respond to local crimes without any local ownership of the patch. A collator and analyst would then put all the crimes together in a bundle and hope that someone came up with a whisper about who the crooks were to pin the crime to.
Mums and Dads and punters in general, lost confidence in the police forces all over ages ago when they lost contact with "their" local plods. The notion of parking your police helicopter resource in a military compound is another symptom of the loss of public confidence police have suffered.
To me it looks like someone ought to get about funding a definitive study on the effects of Air Support units with regards to crime prevention. If the job is achieving measurable results - all the crap regarding DOC's, staffing, worth and joy rides, becomes irrelevent. It may also be a way to identify best use of the resource.
IMHO
DD