British police helicopter attacked on ground
Avoid imitations
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I would agree that the victim of such a situation should make a formal complaint in writing to the Chief Constable (copies to local Member of Parliament and Sun newspaper).
Flap Flap,
Ok, just as a guide, our current D.O.C.s are £540 per hour on an EC135 scheduled for 900 hours - £486000. Slightly less than last year due to slightly lower fuel costs, slightly cheaper P.B.H. for the engines and no pay rise for the pilots this year. As to whether or not you think that's value for money - I can only add that so far this financial year we have been directly responsible for the recovery of almost two thirds of that in stolen vehicles and property.
Ok, just as a guide, our current D.O.C.s are £540 per hour on an EC135 scheduled for 900 hours - £486000. Slightly less than last year due to slightly lower fuel costs, slightly cheaper P.B.H. for the engines and no pay rise for the pilots this year. As to whether or not you think that's value for money - I can only add that so far this financial year we have been directly responsible for the recovery of almost two thirds of that in stolen vehicles and property.
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Airborne artist chap , having served as a cop for 13 years and specifically on a public order unit in an area with one of the highest pikey populations in the country , yes they do pose problems you cannot send a panda car to retrieve stolen property from a site it is really a dangerous thing to do beacuse as you know they are a lawless lot and will assault police officers . That said I have attended literally dozens of complaints of thefts of caravans ,trailers etc etc that have been found on pikey sites and we have been to every single incident and recovered the property asap , obviously some of the time it has already gone , nothing can be done about that until we invent teleportation .
I have also heard many many of the "I have a mate " stories and have personally been involved (unbeknown to the story teller) in the incident and heard the embellishments and bollocks that they come out with . Yes maybe your friend was told this , but believe me this does not make that site a no go area . As has been pointed out if that was the case , complain ! usually complaints are not made due to the circumstances they relay are not quite as they are told to their friends .
But to be honest vigilantism is the best medicine when it comes to these idiots . Ask the farmers in the great Middlewich silage caper of 2004 . These pikies turned up took residence in a field . there was a near riot with locals , up to 300 people were there takign various sides , all insisting that the young wpc there sorted the matter out immediatley . The farmers then drove a large amount of silage trucks onto the field and sprayed the bloody lot of them , funniest thing I ever saw (on video) needless to say they left the field rather quickly.
Give the guys and gals a break they are only human and put up and see more bad stuff in aweek than most people ever see in a liftetime
I have also heard many many of the "I have a mate " stories and have personally been involved (unbeknown to the story teller) in the incident and heard the embellishments and bollocks that they come out with . Yes maybe your friend was told this , but believe me this does not make that site a no go area . As has been pointed out if that was the case , complain ! usually complaints are not made due to the circumstances they relay are not quite as they are told to their friends .
But to be honest vigilantism is the best medicine when it comes to these idiots . Ask the farmers in the great Middlewich silage caper of 2004 . These pikies turned up took residence in a field . there was a near riot with locals , up to 300 people were there takign various sides , all insisting that the young wpc there sorted the matter out immediatley . The farmers then drove a large amount of silage trucks onto the field and sprayed the bloody lot of them , funniest thing I ever saw (on video) needless to say they left the field rather quickly.
Give the guys and gals a break they are only human and put up and see more bad stuff in aweek than most people ever see in a liftetime
How many years, exactly?
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I suspect the travellers feel the police have an "unfare advantage" over them by being able to spy from a helicopter with impunity.
Damaging the police helicopter on the ground is one way to fight back at the police state.
Damaging the police helicopter on the ground is one way to fight back at the police state.
Avoid imitations
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ShyTorque, Police units not taking off deliberately on "patrols". Perhaps your unit didn't.
Our aim was more efficient use of the local police budget, not harrassment of the motorist.
Sometimes errant drivers did bring themselves to our attention, these cases were dealt with in an appropriate manner as best as we could. Such as a certain "Ghostrider" motorcyclist who obviously thought crossing double white lines when overtaking a line of traffic in a 30 mph zone and wheelying against oncoming traffic, whilst blind to it, was clever. He also had no number plate. I did enjoy the video of that one. We were returning from an unconnnected incident, btw, when he was spotted.
Tightgit
How cost/result-effective are UK police helicopters? They cost an awful lot of money (£2,000-£4,000 per flight hour?), what main results do they get? Looking for missing persons, chasing car theives, covering public gatherings?
Would this money be best spent on other aspects of policing or crime prevention? How many police on the beat would a police helicopter budget buy? Do police helicopters prevent crime? Or do they reinforce the "them and us" problem for police and the public. (eg witness the unpopularity of police sitting in lay-bys with speed cameras).
Would this money be best spent on other aspects of policing or crime prevention? How many police on the beat would a police helicopter budget buy? Do police helicopters prevent crime? Or do they reinforce the "them and us" problem for police and the public. (eg witness the unpopularity of police sitting in lay-bys with speed cameras).
Your question is very valid. It is one that every police force asks regularly. The lower part of your estimate is probably close if you were to factor in saving to purchase a new one over the average life of a helicopter. The big financial question is how do we quantify the value of the helicopter operation? Basically it is an estimate of the manhours saved by the use of the helicopter (when compared with the manhours that would have been expended had the helicopter not been there). The estimates are based on Home Office research and trials, As a tax payer you may be pleased to know that further trials to re-validate the data are due to take place this year (I believe).
Those jobs you quoted, in particular searches (for missing persons and offenders), occupy a huge amount of police time and are very manpower intensive if done properly. That is why we have the helicopter. When carrying out a search of a large area, we replace dozens of police officers and often reduce the amount of time spent on a large or small scale search. This has one of two effects.
Either the offender/missing person is found good result all round, everyone back home for tea and medals, or
The search is considered a 'no trace' (offenders/missing persons have vacated search area or were never there in the first place). Although this is a negative result it has the benefit of releasing those police officers that were on that 'incident' to move on to the next in a never ending list of incidents that the police have to deal with.
With regard to 'chasing car thieves', The helicopter is now a vital tool in trying to reduce the risk of serious accidents during police pursuits. Once on scene it allows the pursuing officers to pull back and reduce their speeds. Hopefully reducing the pressure on the driver of the 'bandit vehicle' and thus increasing (remember I said hopefully), the safety of those poor unfortunates who are innocently going about their lawful business in the same vicinity!
The military use the phrase 'Force Multiplier', when dealing with equipment like aircraft. That is the way we think of a police helicopter!
Obviously all the police pilots out there will have an "pro helicopter" opinion
Ianms,
Would that be the drones that may only fly by day, not above 400 ft, not in controlled airspace, always in line of sight of the operator and the endurance of less than 30 minutes and have to get to the scene of the incident in a van??
Would that be the drones that may only fly by day, not above 400 ft, not in controlled airspace, always in line of sight of the operator and the endurance of less than 30 minutes and have to get to the scene of the incident in a van??
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Memory says that G-BOOV the Liverpool Polis Heli had a Contract placed on it by Scouse Hoods and I think it was firebombed but time does dim the braincells.
Mighty Gem should be able to confirm.
john
Mighty Gem should be able to confirm.
john
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Judging by the videos which clog the back end television channels the use of police helicopters has little benefit apart from producing video where the headless voice can proclaim how dangerous the continuing high speed pursuit is.
If helicopters were used to allow police cars to stop chasing then they would represent a major improvement in the safety of the public. These videos however prove that is NOT what is done - instead it is a high speed chase usually through built up areas and an expensive aerial video at the end of it.
I'm left with a general feeling that in the vast majority of cases police helicopters are a vanity project. a view which is largely confirmed by media stories of a cetain police helicopter tracking a woman in a car who was charged with eating an apple.........
If helicopters were used to allow police cars to stop chasing then they would represent a major improvement in the safety of the public. These videos however prove that is NOT what is done - instead it is a high speed chase usually through built up areas and an expensive aerial video at the end of it.
I'm left with a general feeling that in the vast majority of cases police helicopters are a vanity project. a view which is largely confirmed by media stories of a cetain police helicopter tracking a woman in a car who was charged with eating an apple.........
Avoid imitations
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Why don't we get rid of their cars and vans, too - put them all back on the beat; think how much money that would save. We could all just live in a nice, safe, fluffy little world.
Alternatively, we might just regress to the dark ages where criminal anarchy ruled? The reason criminals want to target police helicopters is because they know how effective they are, especially where vehicles are involved.
Many of the helicopter "good jobs" cannot be televised; surely it doesn't take much common sense to understand why (or maybe it does, given some of the comments here). "Police, camera, action" etc tapes are not totally representative, but the sale of less classified stuff like that to TV companies does provide some income to offset of operating costs. They are for entertainment purposes and not meant to be a documentary, FFS!
Alternatively, we might just regress to the dark ages where criminal anarchy ruled? The reason criminals want to target police helicopters is because they know how effective they are, especially where vehicles are involved.
Many of the helicopter "good jobs" cannot be televised; surely it doesn't take much common sense to understand why (or maybe it does, given some of the comments here). "Police, camera, action" etc tapes are not totally representative, but the sale of less classified stuff like that to TV companies does provide some income to offset of operating costs. They are for entertainment purposes and not meant to be a documentary, FFS!
There's an AS355N with full police kit out sitting in a hangar in EIME currently unused if they asked nicely .....
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JAS
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In fact, I may as well give the dog back too. The food he eats costs a fortune and as for the cost of our continual refresher training...
That way when someone breaks into your house and steals your car, they can be chased by Dixon of Dock Green on his pedal cycle, all recorded on a Box Brownie taped to a remote control balsa wood Lancaster Bomber flown by the local sixth form technology class, then when he runs off at the end I will use my superior sense of smell to find the criminal and tick him off most sternly.
Sounds perfect
That way when someone breaks into your house and steals your car, they can be chased by Dixon of Dock Green on his pedal cycle, all recorded on a Box Brownie taped to a remote control balsa wood Lancaster Bomber flown by the local sixth form technology class, then when he runs off at the end I will use my superior sense of smell to find the criminal and tick him off most sternly.
Sounds perfect