Hmm - seem to have hit a nerve. Certainly didn't end up on a unit like Wageslave's. Had the pleasure/privilege of working full-time for 1 metropolitan force, then as a floater covering 5 other forces at various times including all mainland UK countries. I think if I'd found myself somewhere like WS then I'd have walked - as I did from the one very-well-paid but utterly incompetent overseas unit for whom I flew. The closest I've come to a wrong career path - I did something about it, though. Might've hit me in the wallet but it was worth it to get away and try somewhere that didn't have me surrounded by
thugs, psychophants, reg spotters, arse-crawlers and career incompetents
Still can't see - after re-reading previous submission - where I made any smug assumptions though. Just commented on what WS had put in black-and-white. Certainly wouldn't (and didn't) claim that >2 decades of military time equipped me
to show them how to be honest, decent, competent coppers
- where did that come from? As for 'freakishly convenient' local knowlege - that was brought into the mix by people who'd policed their community for many years before joining the unit, and was appreciated by all except the habit-bound criminals who, for example, only knew how to steal one particular type of car.
Back to the OP - Sasless, one attribute that helicopters bring to the mix is crime prevention; a visible/audible police presence is a clear deterrent to both opportunity- and premeditated- illegal activity. The system you describe has its uses after a crime has been committed; better by far to stop the crime from ever happening.