And that figure is much nearer 40 years than 20 even even if you discount the pioneers of the early 1960s [Durham, Oxford and Lancashire].
As we all know things back then were all about making the Chief Constable and Authority look good and that led to low availability expensive toys that did not meet the 24/7 need - and there are a few prime examples still out there in the west. Across the USA there are still dozens.
It is high time that things were regulated and made more inclusive and, perhaps, efficient and if the outcome ever matches the
PR rhetoric that will be OK.
If [as we suspect] it does not this thread will never die away.