Police Launch New Helicopter

The East Midlands Police Air Support Unit, which provides police air support to the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, UK. They have taken delivery of a new helicopter which will provide an enhanced service to the three police forces.

The aircraft is the latest version of the Eurocopter EC135, a twin-engined machine, powered by Pratt and Whitney engines. Registered G-EMID, it is very similar in appearance and colour scheme to the previous one, but offers a greater degree of flight safety and an enhanced operational capability thanks to its integrated new generation equipment.

Proposed changes in legislation by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Home Office, in order to improve safety, particularly at night, have necessitated the replacement of the old aircraft with a new model fitted with single pilot instrumentation and a full autopilot.

The police equipment on board the aircraft has also been upgraded with the latest technology, to assist in its operational role and to provide an extremely cost effective resource for many types of police operations.

Improved day and thermal image cameras will greatly assist in the search for both missing people and offenders and with the capability of linking the cameras to mapping systems, operators will know the precise location of people and vehicles at all times.

The cameras will also be linked to the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) databases, allowing the crews to effectively use transit and pre-planned flight times in a very proactive way.

Chief Superintendent Garry Forsyth, Head of Operations for Leicestershire Constabulary and Chair of the Air Support Unit Policy Group, said:

"Over the thirteen years of its operation, the Air Support Unit has proven to be a very efficient and cost effective resource in operational policing. The speed of its response, the airborne observations it provides and its overall capabilities saves valuable time and money in lieu of ground based resources. It is particularly effective in searching for missing and vulnerable people and its capability in transmitting its camera pictures back to police control rooms enables senior officers to make sound operational decisions at serious incidents.

"Air support has become an essential part of modern operational policing. We are committed to developing modern technology to provide the best possible assistance to the police service in its fight against crime and the reassurance of the local communities we support."