Sadly Jay, whilst I believe you're misguided in your belief about air support, the police haven't got the resources to provide a decent service on the ground let alone in the air. As for the missing persons, the police model of threat harm risk means that even if I was on a "tasty" job, I would be pulled of that for the 80 year old dementia patient gone missing. I'm afraid that we are in a race to the bottom.
I can assure you that police aviation does have its place (dynamic incidents like we sadly saw in London) and of course, the unquantifiable deterrent. These will be unlikely to satisfy people like yourselves, Stats are not the be all and end all. Drones are not the answer to all the issues, but I agree that they have a place, but I'm curious as to how they will be employed. If we take the dog handler model for example, I see these guys pulled all over the area, very often turning up way too late to get a decent track, not their fault, just not enough of them.
You have your opinion, if we go, we go, but if it's just about money, then what's next? Dacia police cars? Or maybe we can look at the military? QE class? F35?
You can't have your cake and eat it chum.