Jay Sata, I have sat quietly letting others spar with you but now I feel I have to join in. You seem totally determined to trash Police air support and I am not convinced that you speak with experience of the role. Yes it costs a lot of money to keep a police aviation unit going but the benefits are not always easily measured. It is not always about what you find but what you don't find. A negative search of an area for a vulnerable missing person can be as much use as a positive one. The area is cleared so we can move on to the next area. It is also cleared much quicker than by ground based officers, assuming you could find enough to do it properly. The Met do not just fly over the boat race for a jolly, we live in difficult times and bad men want to do bad things to nice people the presence of a helicopter can deter it or at least make sure a response is swift. We chase after car thief's and drunk drivers to stop innocent people suffering and to manage difficult and dangerous tasks as safely as possible. If we did it your way then lets all pack up go home barricade ourselves in because we will return to worse times. You are entitled to your views but please think a little wider not just about money. I hope you never have a relative with dementia that wanders off, or a child hit by a drunk driver that was not perused by the Police. If you did you might just change your views and speak some sense.