8 Policemen In A Sea King To Arrest One Man!!!

[TOT]

FROM DAILY RECORD 29/11/03



THE CHOPPER COPPERS THE SOHAM Nov 29 2003


Islanders fly in riot squad to nick one man

By Calum Macdonald



A SQUAD of eight riot cops were airlifted to an island to arrest just one man.

Officers on Cumbrae called for help when a prisoner went berserk in his cell at Millport police station.

The two cops on duty were unable to stop him smashing his cell and cutting himself.

So chiefs on the mainland called in a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter to airlift riot control officers in full combat gear to the island.

The operation cost about £6000.

The Sea King flew the officers from HMS Gannet in Ayrshire to a football pitch in Millport.

It returned to base as the policemen stormed the cell and brought the man under control.

It is believed he had been arrested earlier on Thursday evening following an incident in the town.

Yesterday, the riot cops escorted the 27-year-old man to the mainland.

A police spokesman said: ''Police arrested a man on Thursday who was taken to Millport police office.

''He became violent within the cell. Eight public ordertrained officers were flown by a Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet to Millport to deal with the incident.

''He was brought back by these officers on the ferry on Friday.''

A police insider said: ''The prisoner had been injuring himself and made a hell of a mess.''

A spokesman for HMS Gannet said: ''The helicopter was put on standby while MoD permission was obtained to carry the police.''

An MoD spokeswoman last night said they would pick up the estimated £6000 bill for the helicopter journey. She said: ''We were asked for assistance in an emergency and we will bear the cost.''

A 27-year-old man appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court yesterday charged with breach of the peace, two assaults and two police assaults. No plea was made and he was remanded in custody until next week.

[NickLappos]

From the Texas ranger's web site:

A Texas Ranger stepped down from a train in a riot-torn town and was met by the locals who said, "They only sent one Ranger?" He replied, "You only got one riot, don't you?"

I guess you need a big helicopter if it takes 8 cops for 1 lawbreaker! ;)

[B Sousa]

Hey, its just the way the Brits handle Criminals. You wouldnt want to hurt the guy would you.
Thats why they have five "D" Cell flashlights. Turn on the Light to turn out his lights. You dont Airlift a SWAT Team, you call for an Ambulance to haul his ass to the Hospital.

[Lu Zuckerman]

Way back when helicopters were powered by radial engines we were carrying an agent from the ATTU looking for stills in Tennessee. We came a bit close and were fired upon by a shotgun carrying man guarding the still while his cohorts were running the product. The ATTU agent told us to land and he set off for the still by himself. We heard some gunshots and a few minutes later the agent returned. He had shot the shot gunner and one of the other men. He subdued the third man by hitting him with the barrel of the mans gun after wresting it away from him. The gun was a 22 cal. Iver Johnson revolver with a 10” barrel. The barrel of the gun was bent when the agent struck the man across his scull. Either the gun was very cheap or the man had a hard head. He gave the gun to the pilot as a souvenir.

:E :E

[Unwell_Raptor]

I once dealt with a case involving trouble at a public house. By the end of the incident there were over twenty police officers at the scene.

The defence lawyer made a big point of asking the Sergeant if it was really necessary to have so many officers attend.

The reply was brusque. "Safety in numbers, Sir!"

Answered the question though.

[Hilico]

B Sousa, was that Othello you were quoting? Helo pilots reading literature? What's the world coming to?

[B Sousa]

Sorry Hilico, Im not going to Oxford anytime soon. You lost me on that one.....
Only Othello I knew was Tyronne "Othello" Johnson. He didnt like my flashlight either.....
"To sleep, perchance to dream.........."

[PANews]

The comment about the way Brit coppers dealt with things and 3-cell torches has a point.

Thirty years ago every copper dealt with anything very much alone [indeed it was an offence to be found in the company of any other officer] and when those same officers discovered Maglites with 3-cells they were quickly outlawed by the senior [office-bound] 'leaders' who finally realised that the men at the front had discovered a viable alternative to the truncheon.

Also way back then single officers would trudge alone across a field to disarm 3-4 armed people so that they could have their shotgun certificates examined - and either be arrested of released. I am not aware of ANY instance where that went wrong, certainly not enough to notice. If there was a legal problem the gunmen would often be seen to trudge in the opposite direction and not be seen again!

Today [just like the Sea King incident overkill] and in total disregard of any historic need that same requirement to check the certificates would require at least one helicopter and 3-4 officers armed to the teeth and a requirement for much shouting out of 'armed police' and such to achieve.

As with the old instance I am not aware of ANY instance where that went wrong either ... except of course that it cost the wages of perhaps eight officers, more vehicles and the flying cost of the helicopter.

So perhaps there was a possiblity that a single, very tall and overweight constable armed with 3-cell Maglite and truncheon could have quietly save £8,000!

Progress?


:D

[Ascend Charlie]

Everybody seems to have overlooked one thing - this cat was already in a gaol cell. How much damage can he do to a cell?

Simple solution. Turn out the lights, ignore him and wait till the dopey pr1ck falls asleep.

Then open the door and beat the snot out of him.

[Rich Lee]

It is difficult to argue against overwhelming force. Wasn't Lappos who once said:

"If you are in a fair fight, you didn't plan it properly."

[PANews]

I had not realised it first off, but this island location is part of Strathclyde and just off the coast [1 mile].

Strathclyde have the only full-time helicopter in Scotland but I guess that taking eight would have meant around four journeys with the role equipped airframe and the costs would therefore have been similar to the one off by SK. The 135 may well have been otherwise unavailable.

EC145 next time you order?

This incident does raise the question of airframe availability in a world where we might see SAR devolved to civilian airframes [ie not Sea Kings] potentially with less capacity to carry. The COMAR scheme proposals are likely to be smaller. So perhaps the emergency services should have a regionally based larger airframe fleet?

In time maybe.

[Agaricus bisporus]

My experience with the UK police force leads me to conclude that this was not so much a problem of 5 D cell maglites, rather the almost universal one of 3 C cell coppers. (bear in mind an amoeba only has one cell, so this is perhaps overrating coppers a bit...)

[Thomas coupling]

Oh dear....bit pathetic there agaricus......and sad.

Don't say I didn't warn you...............

[Agaricus bisporus]

Yes, they are, aren't they?

Warn???

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Don't upset yourself, TC - he's probably been immersed in the stuff that his nom-de-plume (the white button mushroom...) thrives in. Perhaps name-calling at the Boys in Blue is the closest he'll get to a witty riposte. Got approximately half-way, I reckon...

...does sound like someone's fishing for an infantile flame-fest, though; best ignore it, eh?