In 2004 I wrote a booklet entitled "On a Higher Beat". It charted the development of UK Police Aviation from the early days through to 2004 when it could be argued that we led the world in that area.

Sadly as the 2,000's wore on the Gov't lost interest in fighting domestic crime and started to cut back on funding. By that time most Chief Constables had lost their (Spherical Objects) and had become puppets of the political pressure being brought to bear on them.

Sadly the often hoped for National Police Air Wing was seized upon by one CC as a charter, not for Increasing efficiency by savings on bulk purchase and economies of scale, but purely as a way of saving money by reducing efficiency and coverage.

Warnings were given by those of us who sensed impending disaster but they were dismissed out of hand.

in 2014 I started a rewrite of "on a Higher Beat" charting the years of decline and inefficiency, and starting to look to the future, perhaps involving the other emergency services as aid to spreading the financial load.

The book is almost complete now, but the truth is that I have lost heart. What was once a real aid in getting to grips with burgeoning crime had become todays failure, and just as I had predicted it gives every sign of entering terminal decline.

If anyone would like to see the latest version PM me with an E mail address and I will send a copy to you.

TF

Romeo papa,
How can you say that that is a waste of tax payers money from one 140 character tweet?

Did you read the incident log?
Do you know how many ground based resources were available?
Do you know how close they were? Their response times?
How was the disturbance reported in the initial call?
Was a name given and were they 'known' to the police? Flagged on the PNC?
How serious the control room inspector took it?

Dale Cregan, Michael Ryan, Raoul Moat, Derrick Bird......all started out as a 'disturbance' and resulted in people dying.

Would you, as the person in charge, send in an unarmed bobby first, or send over the helicopter to have a quick look / risk assessment?

P.S. please can you tell me which report or survey the 90% figure comes from?

TC - Do you honestly believe that anyone in central government is either aware of or responsible for the detail of these cuts?

The requirement for savings is due to necessary and prudent austerity measures brought about by the profligate waste of the previous administration but the way in which it has been carried out is due entirely to your 'very best aviators and police officers'. It is the nature of the cuts, their strategy and delivery, not the necessity of them that most are questioning.

I can't say, we at the coal face, have noticed these top people in aviation and Policeing!

yme - But you must have noticed their second to none strategy, knowledge and delivery. :eek:

Skysports

As you mention the the lone actor style incidents, after Derick Bird, one of the criticsms was in fact the lack of air support.

As requested;
 

All in;
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ps35c88a0a.png

New vision;
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ps443c3433.png

Eyes in the sky are great for intelligence and guidance in deploying ground based assets, but it is boots on the ground that sort the problems out.

The only way this redeployment and reduction of assets makes sense is if the money saved was invested in more resources on the ground.

Well only a couple more months to go until we can tell the politicians what we think of them, like that will make any difference. :ugh:

Comparing maps, it looks like the wrong base in the South East has been chopped. On the before map Chelmsford is overlapped from three sides including Wattersham from the north, On the (after) map the Chelmsford base remamains overlapped by two and there is a huge gap over the North of East Anglia.
:hmm:

Yme - you wouldn't would you....you are at the coal face doing what you do best, which is: "Policeing".:hmm:

MaxR: Armchair judges - they pop out of the woddwork all the time don't they.

Let me remind you of the setting:

23 plus autonomous air support units going about their business, no synergies (to speak of) each 'group' buying their own kit, directly employing, contracting in, different pay scales, different standards, different strategies and so on and so on.
23 plus C.C's jealously guarding their little toy(s).
23 plus units flying annual stats with no efficiency audits (as they did many moons ago). No 'policing' of stats or Command and Control.

How long do you think that would have lasted - come the economic crash?
C.C's would sacrifice their toy at a given moment if they felt their purse was being raided by HMG - at the drop of a hat. I wonder how many ASU's would have survivied.

So someone decided that this couldn't go on - better that they consolidate - group together, because as united they stand a greater chance of minimising attrition. And so NPAS was born. Describe it as you wish, but I know for a fact that those on the SLT were prepared to stop at nothing (given their remit) to make the new model - robust and cost effective. NPAS is NOT the place to go if you want a history lesson on the way it used to be done. That 'way' was destined to failure eventually.
Do you remember when NPAS was suggested - NO-ONE, repeat, NO-ONE would volunteer to run it except for 2 of the 23 outfits. W Yorks grasped the nettle and hung on for grim death. In the face of severe financial and limited operational experience in running the BIGGEST onshore helicopter company in the UK, they managed to keep it relatively intact.
Fast forward 2 years - major efficiencies in purchase power, savings, streamlining, training it was then kicked in the proverbial by its Lord and Master and told to make further (14%) savings at very short shrift.
This is where we are today @ NPAS.

And you have the audacity to sit ther at your computer with your cup of coffee - and berate the efforts of your peers whose soul aim in (professional) life is to safeguard or prolong the future of police air support???
Pathetic little man.

If you want to look at what a burgeoning, inefficient, unco-ordinated and extremely expensive air support empire looks like, look at HEMS and AA's in the UK. :yuk: At the point of delivery they appear to offer a good service, but at what cost? If it was a private business it would go bust overnight.

People on here need to wake up and smell the coffee:

NPAS is/was the only solution going forward. Make no mistake. Police air support in the UK was never going to survive as we knew it. Please try and remove your personal feelings from this. NPAS is a business trying to run a public service. Double edged sword if you ask me.
These last cutbacks are sending a clear message to CC's - shape up or ship out, change is on the way.
Air support is part of a major sea change ongoing in the police world, where CC's should be very very afraid, Police super regions will be formed, IT will replace many processes. Technology will dominate (drones/cameras/data mining......PCC's will be replaced/removed! LESS is MORE.

TC - I really don't mind if you want to continue believing in your (in my view) highly deluded view of the world but please, may I request, that you do not presume to know anything about me or the position from which I offer, not judgement, but merely an informed personal opinion.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to pick up yme for his spelling, may I suggest that you edit "soul" to read sole.

You wouldn't be angling for a job at NPAS would you TC?

MaxR;Any particular reason why the word sole is in quotation marks?
:p

None at all, Sid.

I have now edited it to reflect your advice and would like to thank you for your vigilance. My argument was not with TC's grammar nor, in truth, with his spelling but with the fact that he saw fit to ridicule someone for something that he was not able to show a much firmer grasp of.

Let me tell you about one base i know particularly well.

Before NPAS - between jobs, the unit personel would clean the place, mow the lawns, change light bulbs, decorate, carry out minor D.I.Y., cut the hedges, change the windsock, clean the smoke detector heads, sort out their IT, service the runway lights, etc etc.

Post NPAS takeover - NPAS H.R. and health & safety audit teams turn up and put an immediate stop to all the above activites. In their words, "have you been trained to change lightbulbs? No, well stop doing it."

NPAS then sign service contracts for all the above tasks with specialist companies at a cost of £thousands. There is even a bloke who drives down from the Wakefield area 4 times a year to clean the shower head !!!!!!

In reality, "Fast forward 2 years -" NPAS look at the before and after operating costs for this particular base, see that they spiralled and close the place down. Genius!

TC has pretty much summed it up.

Others such as Silsoe are just trying to avoid the inevitable.

The standard business model is get rid of the old people who cost the most and moan like hell.

I suspect Sid is an oldie who has a cushy high paid job and will not face the inevitable fact it will end soon.

Can I also point out that drones are a cheap way of doing a lot of the old helicopter work:ok:

RP,
You very funny man! :D

RP,

If it's trolling you're into. Please stick to calling celebrities fat. Thank you.

Not as funny as Andy Pandy:ok:

NCO pilots and constables who became air observers seem to be the biggest moaners here.

Times are changing and the young graduate accountants and inspectors don't see the
old model as being cost effective.

The days of the Sweeney are long gone and modern policing needs something more than Jamie Theakston voicing helicopter car chases of unemployed kids on council estates.

I'm glad to be on the other side of the world when I view that stuff on satelite tv.

RP, what have I done to deserve your remarks ...

When all I've posted on this thread is ...

Pre announcement, wishing everyone the best.
Producing a new 20 min circle map.
Correcting a spelling mistake.
Mentioned it's you with a chip on your shoulder.
Asked you a question.
Asked PAN if he has a list of European Police bases, with which to produce a European 20 min map.
As requested, produced a, 'when all units are in NPAS' 20 min map.
Commented on use of quotation marks.
.. and finally this reply!


Not only that huge anti military pilot chip on your shoulder, but absolutely clueless about anything discussed on the topic :rolleyes:

Or is it simply too difficult for you to deal with usernames that have the same initials :p