Police Aviation News January 2011

Police Aviation News January 2011 5
UNITED KINGDOM
NATIONAL: Even after the National
Police Air Support Service [NPAS] plan
comes into being there are some glaring
areas where there is no coverage - Cumbria
is one and Wales another. These less
populated areas remain very much devoid
of air support and there are moves afoot
to see whether that much denigrated joint
police/air ambulance air operations model
[as currently operated in Sussex and Wiltshire]
might come back to life.
Superintendent Richard Watson apparently
raised some eyebrows at the recent
Air Ambulance Association AGM with a
presentation that attempted to tick that
particular box again. This time the shoe
may be on the other foot and – although it
is not generally welcomed – some air ambulance
operations are considering
whether joint operations might work.
There are legal problems of course, not
least that police work requires a Police
AOC, and some potential difficulties with
Charity Trustees but time can potentially
resolve those if there is a will.
To be added to the confusing scene are
reports that South Yorkshire are digging
their heels in about disbandment and that
the Dyfed Powys Police Authority [DPPA]
are seeking to swap their AgustaWestland
A109E Power for a fixed wing. The DPPA
The map above represents the suggested new air support locations
[green dots] and range circles giving an impression of how
far they might fly 10 minutes after call out. The standard range
model suggests that 20 minutes is the maximum effective time
lapse but recent tendency to lock the aircraft away at night suggests
that this the smaller circles might just be the practical effective
distance. The red crosses signify current units destined to be
deleted.
are stating that they got the idea from the police project team. This all suggests that the
whole plan is a moveable feast. There must be a tendency to wonder quite what the ACPO
ranks let themselves in for when they ‘agreed’ the sell out back in October.
One not unexpected development is that one of the ‘Dream Team’ has left. Captain Ollie
Dismore, nominally the Home Office Police Aviation Advisor, and effectively the only aviation
person in the team and sidelined for some time now, he was nonetheless seen as involved
way beyond his actual influence. If for no other reason than his personal standing he
needed to distance himself from the NPAS project at a time when he was clearly being ignored.
For his sake the move must be welcomed. This leaves the team with a far from convincing
plan and no-one with any experience to guide them. Captain Dismore was not a police
aviation operator but he did fly for and acquire pilots for the industry as well as fly in
units as a line pilot. Until the debacle over his ‘de-employment’ he was also in touch with all
the UK units on a day-to-day basis and represented UK air support at various events including
Farnborough and PAvCon where he met with high profile figures in the international police
aviation world. The others? Little or nothing in the way of profile.