I work quite near the base of our cities Police Helicopter
I see it passing over towards the City centre regulary
Twice in the past half an hour

Question to you is

Do you think the results justify the cost ?

I don't know the figure for either but perhaps you folks might,
and I would be interested in your opinion:thumbsup:

I heard somewhere that the Police Helicopter combats 99% of Car Crime in Sheffield. If that's true then I'd say it was worth the money. Even though it is annoying buzzing about all day.

Plus Magnum's mate had one... And look at all the crime he solved.

i think 'traffic cops' shows the impact the helicopter has :)

Why not give them a fighter plane with heat seaking missiles, that would be a lot more effective than stingers!

Why not build a huge mousetrap, and load it up with Burberry Caps and blocks of dope instead of cheese? That'd get rid of most of the undesirables.

Every time Mr Strix takes the dog for a walk they seem to tail him. They've obviously heard there's scousers about!

My mate thought she lived in a really bad area 'coz she saw the helicopter fly over her house so often. She lives in Handsworth. Everytime it gets airborne she can see it!

Originally posted by Strix
Every time Mr Strix takes the dog for a walk they seem to tail him. They've obviously heard there's scousers about!

My mate thought she lived in a really bad area 'coz she saw the helicopter fly over her house so often. She lives in Handsworth. Everytime it gets airborne she can see it!

She doesn't live in a bad area but YOU DO!

Woodhouse, isn't that where all the Gypsy's have been re-housed? The Badger estate!

The original question was, do the results justify the cost?

The biggest outlay is for the craft itself, which is already paid for. It costs very little to fly it. Therefore it would be a bigger waste if it was bought and never used. This then raises the question, should we have a helicopter at all. The value in terms of high speed chases has already been touched upon. In terms of public safety, it is better to have the helicopter keeping track of a bandit vehicle, and directing ground patrols, than having numerous police cars having to drive fast in residential areas.

But it is not just car chases where the helicopter comes into its own. For example, at 3 am when a house has just been burgled and ground patrols are in the area, it is a great help to have an eye in the sky which can use thermal imaging to find the burglar hiding in bushes or under a car etc.

It has also been used to find missing persons who have fallen in remote areas. In terms of catching criminals and saving lives, I would say that the helicopter has more than paid for itself. Yes, it is annoying to hear it buzzing overhead, but also reassuring to know that if a dangerous or nasty piece of work is hiding nearby, the police have the balance in their favour to catch the b******.

Originally posted by alexdave67
She doesn't live in a bad area but YOU DO!

Woodhouse, isn't that where all the Gypsy's have been re-housed? The Badger estate!

And just what did I do to deserve that abuse?

Originally posted by alexdave67
She doesn't live in a bad area but YOU DO!

Woodhouse, isn't that where all the Gypsy's have been re-housed? The Badger estate!

Hmmm, Charnock, now that is right up there with Dore and Millhouses is'nt it!.
Woodhouse is a big estate and it differs from one part to another (like most estates).

I'd been led to believe Woodhouse was a village with several estates in it.

I heard that they have recently invested in a new police chopper - the old one was a bit long in the tooth. It was apparently second hand anyway after being scratched in a crash that made it an insurance write(sp?) off.

Don't know how new the 'new one' is though.

The pilots must hate this time of the year - with all the fireworks being aimed at them??

The pilots are ex military with thousands of hours in command and will not be bothered by a few scroats and their fireworks.

Originally posted by jan2002
I work quite near the base of our cities Police Helicopter
I see it passing over towards the City centre regulary
Twice in the past half an hour

Question to you is

Do you think the results justify the cost ?

I don't know the figure for either but perhaps you folks might,
and I would be interested in your opinion:thumbsup:

The time of your post (4.45 approx, on a Saturday afternoon in October) is more or less the time that the football supporters turn out, (from whatever ground)

So the helicopter would heve been deployed for 2 reasons, one, to make sure that the traffic flows as freely as possible with 20K or so supporters and their cars leaving the footballl ground. secondly, the Eye in the sky can see whether there's any trouble "kicking off", and direct the resources (the coppers on the ground) to the place that they are needed. they have the advantage of an overall view, where the coppers on the ground can only see the immediate area around them.

When I lived on the Manor, the chopper was over our little development regularly, chasing the "joy"- riding little scroates. The road beside our house was part of the scroates' "brands-hatch circuit", where they'd drive round, at speed and "pull donuts" and handbrake turns, etc.

Whilst the noise could be a nuisance, in the middle of the night, it was also reassuring that the police had the chopper and could track and catch the scroates. (the helicopter could track/trail the scroates over terrain where the police cars could not necessarily follow, e.g. down alleys if the scroates had "decamped" from the car, and dispersed)

I had heard that, in the first 12 months, of the police chopper being operational, the incidence of "joy"-riding on the manor had gone down by something like 50% and other crime, particularly associated crime, had gone down proportionately.

I think that the police chopper is a brilliant thing. and if it continues to be as successful as it has been thus-far, then "more power to it's elbow!", I say! if it's catching the scroates, then it's got to be worth it!

PT

Originally posted by HarrietStar
i think 'traffic cops' shows the impact the helicopter has :)
theire all traffic cops i dont kwow any other
thy dont get any profit any where else

I heard that the new helicopter is the one they used in Airwolf.

They have a dormant volcanoe up at the airport which they store it in.

Originally posted by awoollen
theire all traffic cops i dont kwow any other
thy dont get any profit any where else

erm not sure what your talking about..."profits" ??!! As a serving police officer, I take a great pride in locking up burglars, muggers, bogus officials, etc. But when you have had to scrape someone up off the road because the car that hit them was going too fast to stop in time, let me tell you, it is not "profits" that is going through your mind.