Interesting you suggest a police helicopter can stop a mugging?
How exactly can you achieve that?
When an innocent newspaper vendor was caught up in a so called police 'kettling' operation a couple of years ago no footage came from the Met helicopters to show the true story.
The victim was thrown to the ground by a PC and public and press footage later incriminated the officer who was dismissed.
Technology has seen rapid development in drones and GoPro cameras.
Why does London need helicopters hovering overhead when there are thousands of ground based cameras with higher definition plus cameras on buses taxis etc .
Australia is a unique situation. A massive country with few people out side the five big cities but
crime spread across huge areas.
Police use helicopters for crime management ,paramedic and search and rescue work.
Perhaps there is an argument for combined ops in rural Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland?