I Despair
Unbelievable as it may seem, in 1980, the targets were for ground units to arrive on scene within 6 minutes for a 999 call, 12 minutes for stuff that wasn't quite so urgent and an hour for everything else. Messages were written down on paper message pads and failure to hit the response target resulted in a report to the Chief Super the following morning.
Now we have computers, intelligence analysts predicting where crimes will occur, a horde of civilian staff, helicopters, permanently armed patrols and centralised bases to improve efficiency. You are lucky to get a response within 24 hours unless you actually have hands on a suspect, or it's a terrorist or firearms incident, and then everyone is ordered to hold back in the interests of safety. Of course the worst possible outcome is that someone has their feelings hurt or gets a bruise or two while violently resisting arrest.
The Job may have had many faults in the past, but it worked a lot better than the farce we have been left with today. NPAS will survive the reorganisation and cutbacks, but the country will be split into areas that have virtually constant coverage and those where air assets will only be deployed in the most exceptional circumstances, by which time it probably won't be worth the bother. No account seems to have been taken of the effects of the prevailing climate on air operations, or maybe it has. East Anglia is frequently covered in fog during the colder months, so no air cover just might make sense. Doesn't seem to bother the Air Ambulance chaps too much though.
Since the Coast Watch stations have been closed, and there is no longer any air cover, just who is watching all the creeks and inlets on the East Coast to prevent drug and people smugglers from landing or flying into farm strips and those abandoned airfields that haven't been given over to development?