Originally Posted by
G0ULI
Police aviation seemingly flourished under a left(ish) wing government, while the last five years have seen progressive cutbacks in the interests of efficiency by the party that claims to uphold the rule of law and order.
I certainly have addressed my concerns directly to my local MP, only to be met with such comments as the crime level in Norfolk and surrounding counties has fallen, so police air cover is superfluous and does not represent an efficient use of resources.
My personal experience is that helicopters are more efficiently deployed over more open ground and countryside than over densely populated inner city areas, although I respect that other people claim the opposite is true. All citizens are entitled to expect their local police force to have adequate resources on call when needed and with similar response times across the country. Rural and remote areas are precisely those that can most benefit from the rapid transit times of helicopters.
I would suggest that far from knocking NPAS, the story illustrates that the reorganisation offers adequate cover only for the powerful who hold the purse strings and represents a backward step in the capabilities of law enforcement generally for the rest of the populance.
Yes it has been hard times and lots of toes (and careers) have been trodden on, but the road NPAS are travelling is still not at the end so though we may have detrimental opinions we on the outside cannot see where it really might end up.
It is worth noting that the force areas making the most noise at the moment are those with the least demonstrated requirement for air support.
Dyfed with around 300 hours and the same with Norfolk and Suffolk.
How were they able to ensure that those meagre 300 hours a year were always available at the right times?
Well they were not were they!
In each case of emergency need they either did without or they called in the neighbours. SAEW for Dyfed and Essex for East Anglia that's why there was a preexisting consortium.
They now call that mutual aid set up NPAS......
Time will decide