Personally I quite agree that a police observer doesn't need to be a police officer. There are some quite useful bits, for example, when in a pursuit, knowing what it feels like to be up the **** end of a car at 130 on the GROUND, and what it feels like to point a gun at someone, when containing a firearms incident. However, quite often, police air observers have never specialised in these areas themselves, which negates this.
Bottom line is that more emergency air cover is needed and I think Skywatch is an excellent idea. How much of a help would something like this be with a missing child. Sussex are now looking at early intervention with the media, broadcasting messages of missing kids as early as possible. Integrate eyes in the air and thngs get even better.
Going back to my original post, I think the big issue is - what happens when one drops out of the sky?