C'mon children, stop being silly!
We are talking about Police Helicopters here, not toys. These a/c were purchased at public expense and are crammed full of sophisticated Police role equipment. It matters little, I suppose, who owns them now, The Local force or NPAS. But the public who paid for them have a right to expect the best bang for their buck.
Now I do not believe for one moment that what has happened will be an improvement on what went before. Nor do I believe that the promised savings will be delivered. However just to prove that I do believe in Father Christmas I will say that I believe that the NPAS and ACPO spin machines will be spooled up to show that it has indeed been the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.
So how can the public ensure that they do get the best bang for their buck?
Well quite simply, - insist that your aircraft ( And whatever the spin, they are your aircraft) are properly crewed by real Police Officers with a nose and dedication for doing a Police task. Officers who have spent years feeling collars and have a sixth sense on how a criminal behaves and acts.
If you believe that some civilian who just wants to do a job- any job, and play with lots of lovely kit, but has no proven desire to lock up criminals, is going to make the most of that huge investment of yours, then fine. But I can assure you that many years of experience shows that it is just not going to get the best out of that airframe. Remember a police officer who is not cutting the mustard can more easily be returned to the core role of patrol officer. The civilian with a contract and job description is another kettle of fish. Tribunals etc etc. Aircraft do go tech! The Police officer can be re deployed for a while. The civilian observer??
I have been involved in Police Air Support since 1984 and have watched it grow up. The well proven system has always brought out the best in its staff, or on the odd occasion that an observer has proved to lack motivation, through some pretty implacable UEO's, ruthlessly pruned out the dead wood.
Borderless Policing was not something strange or new to the ASU's. They did it right from the early days, - and why? To catch bloody criminals thats why!
Now, because of bloody politicians and accountants, its whole existance and effectiveness is threatened. Does no one seem to understand that effectiveness is not about being able to show a theoretical helicopter availability in a region over 24 hours, but is actually about how quickly that aircraft can be overhead the task in order to be able to do something useful?
The only good thing left, is the the certainty that as long as that Police Helicopter is crewed by Police Officers then effectiveness may still stand a chance.
Naturally I do not ignore the essential "driver" in my remarks. My experience was that they quickly became part of the team, and enjoyed the task as much as we did.
tigerfish