INTRODUCTION
POLICE AVIATION IN THE UK
In the beginning
Post-Second World War
The 1960s
Into the 1970s
Growth in police air support: the 1980s
AS355 in the ascendant: the 1990s
A fast-changing policing landscape: the 21 st century
NPAS is born: 2010 to date
THE METROPOLITAN POLICE AIR SUPPORT UNIT
Permanent air support arrives in London
Challenges and setbacks
Everything changes
The golden years of Metropolitan Police aviation
Met ASU establishment
Achievements
Terrorist attacks
Royal weddings and state occasions
US presidential visits
London riots, 2011
London Olympic Games, 2012
Transition into NPAS
Lippitts Hill
ANATOMY OF A POLICE HELICOPTER
UK police helicopters
Anatomy of a police helicopter
Exploring the police role equipment
POLICE HELICOPTER CREW
Pilot
Tactical flight officers
Crew training and experience
TACTICS
What does a police helicopter do?
Searching
Enclosed area search
Open area search
Vehicle pursuits
Public order
Command team
ASU Liaison role
Eagle One
Using infrared
The electromagnetic spectrum
POLICE HELICOPTER IN ACTION
Case study 1 - Criminal suspect search
Case study 2 - Pursuit and search
Short case studies
BEHIND THE SCENES
Recruitment and selection
Helicopter maintenance
Beneath the panels of the EC145
Dispatch and flight following
Media and publicity
INDEX
Zapraszam do zakupu książki na temat helikopterów policyjnych w Wielkie Brytanii !
Police helicopters are operated in the UK by National Police Air Service (NPAS), which brings all 43 forces together and delivers a borderless police aviation capability countrywide. As Head of the Metropolitan Police Service Air Support Unit (ASU) for eight years between 2008 and 2015, Inspector Richard Brandon was responsible for the introduction to service of new custom-built police helicopters fitted with the latest high-tech surveillance equipment and for the training of police helicopter air crews. As such he is perfectly qualified to tell the story of UK police helicopter operations, how they work, what they do and how they do it.
Taking the Met’s ASU as the centrepiece of this manual, author Richard Brandon describes how police aviation in the UK has evolved since its beginnings in the 1920s; how the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit (ASU) operates; the anatomy of a police helicopter (the EC135 and EC145); an in-depth look at the surveillance equipment and systems of the police helicopter – Wescam MX15 camera system, Skyforce Observer moving map system, Video Management System, Vislink digital downlink, Airwave digital police radios; the police helicopter crew, crew members and their roles, training and experience, a day in the life of each crew member; tactics – searching, pursuits, Public Order, and the use of infrared; the police helicopter in action – case studies of typical missions from different forces around the UK; and finally behind the scenes – crew recruitment and selection, helicopter maintenance, despatch and flight following.