NPAS News 2023

[SilsoeSid]

Looks like the fixed wing persons from Leeds have had a busy afternoon (pics attached) :ok:
Since being informed about POLW being out and about, (I seem to be the family reporting centre), I've cooked and had a roast chicken dinner, loaded the dishwasher, cup of tea and walked it all off. Glad not to have increased on my Chipmunk hours and gone the fixed wing route, my bladder caption was always set at 2hrs max, so 4+ would be quite a challenge 🤣 What surprises me most though is what is going on to have such commitment to an area for such a long time... on a Sunday? Times have changed!

On another note, has anyone else read Dave Howell's book 'Speak Up, Listen Down'? https://tinyurl.com/2k9ec5wm
A very good read and a wonderful insight into one of the many amazing paths taken by one of the many good people in the organisation that I had the fortune and pleasure to work with. Not giving any spoilers, but anyone that ever had a ticket on the naughty bus to Wakefield will relate to the choice of title and certain chapters.;)


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1290x900/polw_2_4b711068696b4b310cb34ebbc299be722ad02e0e.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1293x900/polw_1_a4b7ad0fb47c38916ca3b9d25e8e7ba02d32d62e.png

[hoistop]

Looks like the fixed wing persons from Leeds have had a busy afternoon (pics attached) :ok:
Since being informed about POLW being out and about, (I seem to be the family reporting centre), I've cooked and had a roast chicken dinner, loaded the dishwasher, cup of tea and walked it all off. Glad not to have increased on my Chipmunk hours and gone the fixed wing route, my bladder caption was always set at 2hrs max, so 4+ would be quite a challenge 🤣 What surprises me most though is what is going on to have such commitment to an area for such a long time... on a Sunday? Times have changed!

On another note, has anyone else read Dave Howell's book 'Speak Up, Listen Down'? https://tinyurl.com/2k9ec5wm
A very good read and a wonderful insight into one of the many amazing paths taken by one of the many good people in the organisation that I had the fortune and pleasure to work with. Not giving any spoilers, but anyone that ever had a ticket on the naughty bus to Wakefield will relate to the choice of title and certain chapters.;)


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1290x900/polw_2_4b711068696b4b310cb34ebbc299be722ad02e0e.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1293x900/polw_1_a4b7ad0fb47c38916ca3b9d25e8e7ba02d32d62e.png
I am surprised that these tracks are in public domain. It should not be, as circles are very revealing. It is not so difficult to remove them from the eyes of the public. Why was this not done yet?

[SilsoeSid]

I am surprised that these tracks are in public domain. It should not be, as circles are very revealing. It is not so difficult to remove them from the eyes of the public. Why was this not done yet?
I’m more surprised that Rivet Joint etc are shown.

[Fortyodd2]

Thumbs up from me regarding "Speak up, Listen Down" I suspect there may have been a couple of chapters that didn't make the final edition :ok:

[ShyTorque]

Maybe they were just looking for an airfield with AVGAS...

[Fortyodd2]

"Maybe they were just looking for an airfield with AVGAS..."
....that was open. :E:E:E

[gipsymagpie]

I am surprised that these tracks are in public domain. It should not be, as circles are very revealing. It is not so difficult to remove them from the eyes of the public. Why was this not done yet?
It is not difficult to remove from one site but there are several and it takes very little effort or expense for anyone to setup their own receiver to track the aircraft independent of FR24/ADS-B exchange. What would be needed is for the Police aircraft to switch off their transponders or at least dumb them down to just Mode C. Much harder to track.

[SilsoeSid]

After similar comments were made a few years ago, NPAS rotary were removed from FlightRadar24. I guess with all the other sites available it would be a Canutian task to have all assets removed from all sites.

[DEGRADE]

Not so hard

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/240x320/adsb_0b67c13d6b84d3100a94544942403cfeb53ea816.jpg
my two 145’s have a mod to allow the disabling of ADSB. You have to be law enforcement to get the mod done and cough up the ££££.
soft button in Garmin and annunciator on panel plus some greenie wizardry

[[email protected]]

Many thanks to NPAS Redhill for helping us out yesterday with a power pack when the mighty Lynx battery had given up after a day of filming work.

Our own red starter box had given up too and we were 15 mins away from Redhill closing.

Fortunately we were parked for refuel very close to the NPAS hangar and they came to our rescue.

Thanks guys:ok:

[chopper2004]

Do not know the ins and outs of the tragic death of a budding police officer but initially when he went missing, supposedly the force told his family that 'They also say they were told it was 'too dark' to carry out a search due to wild animals living in the woods. But the family imply the force refused to scramble air support in the search

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11974377/Family-student-officer-took-life-claim-treated-like-criminal-colleagues.html

Bearing in mind NPAS hq is at Wakefield, one guesses, that the any available a/c and crew were not readily around or the nearest one from way away.

tragic RIP young lad

[[email protected]]

Don't ignore the source of that piece - the Daily Mail - not known for accurate and unbiased reporting. Sad loss of life whatever the cause.

[SilsoeSid]

As above…
Bad reporting on many levels. Nothing is the fault of the family, but of the media wanting a better, more gripping story, in the belief they will be helping the family for the future case review.


The family were told they would not be able to look for Anugrah themselves (By who? Would anyone NOT go out and look for a relative especially if their car had been found!) and say officers were 'slow to initially respond to reports that Anugrah was missing' and that they wasted time before entering the woods where his car was located. (who told them what wasn’t going on in the background?)

'Eventually one officer and a single dog, hardly a squad, arrived at around 2am,' they said. (One dog person & dog is more effective than a squad of 20) 'The initial call from us was made at 11pm. There was just no sense of urgency even though we as a family were obviously frantic and GMP themselves had identified Anugrah as being high risk.' (Remaining calm in a crisis is one of the many qualities of policing, again, the family wouldn’t know what is going on in the background and the agencies involved)

They also say they were told it was 'too dark' to carry out a search due to wild animals living in the woods. (1. Who told them that? 2. It probably would be without a dog person & dog. 3. The undergrowth can restrict movement even in the best of conditions 4. The dog would scare away wild animals, whereas mispers generally wouldn’t be… so who told them that? Bet it wasn’t an official)

'The contempt with which we were treated is sickening', they added. (!)

The family say that police refused to send a helicopter out to search for him. (Source? I find this extremely hard to believe especially when the car had been located, at night near to a dense wood and he was one of their own. There is a massive difference between refusing and not being able to deploy an aircraft.
We were once tasked from Brum to the Norwich area for a misper in the early hours, with the probability of not being able to get back to base until fuel would be available once again due to the nature of the task - vulnerable misper. We were cleared and prepared to search until fuel dictated we then had to land at Norwich. As it happened they were found and we were cancelled en-route)


​​​​​​​Of course this is just my opinion.

[SilsoeSid]

p.s, Totally my comments based on the reporting by the Mail; considering he was a university student on attachment, there’s a lot from the reporting that doesn’t sound right…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11898755/Family-student-police-officer-21-took-life-claim-bullied-colleagues.html

I look forward to the IOPC report:
Apart from the question of whether he would have a police warrant card as a student on placement, was he really ‘continually sent out alone to domestic abuse incidents’ ?
However the best example of bad reporting has to be…
When Anu's car was found near woodlands on the evening of March 3, the family allege police did not search the area and told them that the woodlands were 'dangerous' and contained wild animals such as 'hedgehogs'.
Just my opinion

[SilsoeSid]

Back on thread, is there really no mention of NPAS in this month’s PAN apart from saying Tracker detection units are fitted in NPAS helicopters and, in an article about the ESN, that RW used to work for the service?
What’s the world coming to :hmm:
http://www.policeaviationnews.com/Acrobat/324PanApril2023.pdf

[MightyGem]

Back on thread, is there really no mention of NPAS in this month’s PAN apart from saying Tracker detection units are fitted in NPAS helicopters and, in an article about the ESN, that RW used to work for the service?
It would appear not.
:}​​​​​​​

[SilsoeSid]

With May's NPAS mentionings limited to a brief reference in an article about a 1995 tv programme referring to moving the Met from Lippetts to NW and back again, a mention that there used to be three media professionals employed at Wakey, an observation that Twitter (once the #1 way to go with each unit having it's own Twitter/SocMed champion) being very info restrictive and that there have been no press releases this year, I wonder if June's edition of PAN will be able to be more informative.

PAN reporting must rely on information being given out or discovered through investigation; judging by the NPAS website's latest news page, nothing has happened since November's 'temporary short term relocation of the fixed wing fleet until something more suitable and permanent is found', so I live in hope that June's edition will have something to add :hmm:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1212/npas_news_5acf657bda0a46176905e6dcf53e3690b85cc7f6.png

[SilsoeSid]

And then, in the words of the Mr Ben narrator, ‘as if by magic’ a well known name to the organisation begins to appear in the mainstream media for a familiar reason…

“Only limited detail about his departure from policing is being released.”

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/15/national-police-chiefs-council-chief-retires-after-bullying-claims

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65708552

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uks-most-senior-black-officer-29979780.amp

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12083537/amp/Britains-senior-black-police-officer-retires-bullying-discrimination-accusations.html

[Fortyodd2]

A little more background here:
https://theupsetterstrikes.substack.com/p/fly-rap
...and yet, still allowed to retire on a big fat pension :yuk:

[SilsoeSid]

As an ex-season ticket holder of the naughty bus to Wakefield, I’d say that article sums things up quite nicely while he was at NPAS and I’m pleased to see the ‘T’ world mentioned, the word he constantly referred to those that dared speak out about safety.

[RotaryJ]

G-POLU | Eurocopter EC135T2+, National Police Air Service, O… | Flickr - What's going on here then... Will G-POLU be brought back into active service?

[SilsoeSid]

Looks like the lamps are about to fall out and the doors drop off with red smoke bellowing from the exhaust 🤣

Either that or…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cnj8VXIghPw

[MightyGem]

Watching "Sky Coppers" on ITV, about the West Midlands Police Drone Unit. Interesting.

[Cabby]

Watching "Sky Coppers" on ITV, about the West Midlands Police Drone Unit. Interesting.

The West Yorkshire force have received an extra £18m this year. Will it be spent on aircraft or drones?

BBC interview.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-66054322

[Mike Flynn]

The West Yorkshire force have received an extra £18m this year. Will it be spent on aircraft or drones?

BBC interview.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-66054322
Drones are quieter and a lot more cost efficient.

[MightyGem]

Last year’s NPAS stats for those that are still interested. The decline continues with the number of Actioned Calls attended and flying hours both down on 2021/22.The usual winners and losers on the amount paid to NPAS by Forces for Air Support, with the total up on 2021/22 by £1,133,797.

Although NPAS don’t charge Forces per Actioned Call, it’s a simple way of seeing what Forces are paying. As in previous years there is a vast difference in “Cost per Call”. GMP paid NPAS £1,917,399 and had 1154 RW/FW Actioned calls. That equates to £1,662 per call.

At the other end of the scale, Hampshire paid £1,034,070 and had 102 Calls, equating to £10,138 for each call.

I asked Hampshire for a breakdown of what they paid NPAS for but they said that they “do not hold a breakdown of costs.”. Astonishing. I passed the question onto the PCC and they are investigating.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/964x868/npas_2022_23_4f392168f2d883d5c8ca52b012917fe095ba6870.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/300x353/npas_hours_2022_23_61fac67d2211484fc263caec518f2a188bc23f44. png

[J.A.F.O.]

Last year’s NPAS stats for those that are still interested. The decline continues with the number of Actioned Calls attended and flying hours both down on 2021/22.The usual winners and losers on the amount paid to NPAS by Forces for Air Support, with the total up on 2021/22 by £1,133,797.

Although NPAS don’t charge Forces per Actioned Call, it’s a simple way of seeing what Forces are paying. As in previous years there is a vast difference in “Cost per Call”. GMP paid NPAS £1,917,399 and had 1154 RW/FW Actioned calls. That equates to £1,662 per call.

At the other end of the scale, Hampshire paid £1,034,070 and had 102 Calls, equating to £10,138 for each call.

Thanks MG, still interested, still saddened.

[PANews]

After a massive wait since 2019 NPAS has finally published an Annual Report.

The 29 page PDF can be found at https://www.npas.police.uk/sites/default/files/npas_annual_report_202223_-_final_version_0.pdf

Among the information imparted is that G-POLU is to be brought into the fleet and the fixed wing are again on the move - to East Midlands I understand. Meanwhile there is a £2M sports hall going begging at Doncaster's now closed airport.

Despite the four year black hole of information (a period of some pretty murky goings on) this report is fairly comprehensive and almost a breath of fresh air.

[MightyGem]

I passed the question onto the PCC and they are investigating.

The PCC weren't much help either:
​​​​​​​The costing for NPAS is a formula set by the Home Office which has been in place for a number of years. It is difficult to compare Hampshire and Isle of Wight with a force such as GMP due to the extreme difference in size of force, demographic, social and economic characteristics. For example Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has a much more rural area than GMP.

​​​​​​​Still as clear as mud.

[AeroAmigo]

What's going on here then... Will G-POLU be brought back into active service?

I did a little digging on this as I've always had an interest in police aviation, despite not having the experience or credentials of others on the forum here that have worked in the field.

It turns out G-POLU has been painted back into full NPAS colours with a photo dating as far back as July, and searching for its Mode S code on ADSBexchange (40472C) returns test flight activity out of oxford as recent as the 27th of September (Two days ago at time of writing)

Ideally I'd like to have links to both the image and the track on ADSBexchange but unfortunately haven't reached the 8 post threshold to do this.

Looking forward to seeing it deployed, whenever it's ready. I did note that it was previously registered as G-XMII before being leased to the Norwegian Police and then used as a test bed by Airbus, built all the way back in 2002 so a similar aged aircraft to the rest of the rotary fleet.

[Sky Sports]

Can you imagine police driving around in 21 year old cars?

[Northernstar]

At this rate they'll bring back our old MD902's and pay a premium for them.

I'm sure the Hungarians felt a little hard done by in the end when they realised what they'd been sold and for how much. Usually it's the kind of thing we'd fall for.https://english.atlatszo.hu/2018/09/17/american-and-czech-defense-companies-with-ties-to-government-profit-from-hungarian-police-contracts/

[MightyGem]

Will G-POLU be brought back into active service?
Aaah...G-POLU, aka G-XMII. Got a few hours in that one. :ok:​​​​​​​