Visit to the Police Air Support Unit

On 14th August 2003 I visited the Hampshire Police Air Support Unit on the Daedalus naval airfield, Lee-on-the-Solent, Gosport. Through my own ignorance I wondered why we have to listen to the Police aircraft circling Portsmouth late at night.

In 1996 the Air Station closed and the Ministry of Defence declared it surplus to requirements however that was not the end of flying at Lee-on-Solent. Since then the airfield has been used for a variety of flying and training activities, and a strategic base for the Coastguard Search and Rescue Service and Hampshire Police Air Support Unit. Also there are a diversity of flying and glider clubs, aircraft restoration activities and hovercraft preservation.

The Hampshire Police Air Support Unit was founded in 1989 they cover the area of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Hampshire Constabulary is one of only a small number of UK police forces to operate a fixed wing aircraft at its Air Support Unit, others use helicopters.

In March 2001 the unit took delivery of a new Britten Norman 4000 Defender, a twin turbine-engined fixed wing aircraft, named after the former Chief Constable of Hampshire Sir John Hoddinott. This being much quieter than the Islander it replaced and allows the aircraft to be airborne for five hours compared to a helicopters one hour.

I can remember reading about the trials and tribulations of the Edgeley Aircraft Limited Optica Scout which was used between 1985 to 1990 and the tragic crash in 1985.

The Hampshire Police Air Support Unit is largely funded by the Home Office to fly 1000 hours per year, with additional funding coming from the constabulary. Governed by CAA rules (not the Police), there are currently 15 staff on the unit - four civilian pilots, eight observers, two supporting ground staff and a cleaner.  For normal operations the crew, a pilot and two observers work a shift rota.

The aircraft is fitted with a range of sophisticated electronic equipment including:

?         a thermal imaging camera

?         a daylight camera with a 32x zoom facility

?         stolen vehicle tracking equipment

?         video downlink providing instant broadcasts to the control room

Requests for the aircraft can be made by any officer. The decision whether or not to deploy is made by the officer in charge at the unit. Among things taken into account are:

?         Chances of success and potential effectiveness of aerial support

?         After midnight, the severity of the incident

?         Lapsed time since the incident

?         Amount of information available regarding incident

?         Aircraft availability

 When I left and reflected back over the evening, I felt the Air Support Unit was a very important and worthwhile part of the overall Police jigsaw. They are professionals in their field of expertise competing with the criminal, the technology at their disposal (especially over the urban sprawl of Portsmouth at night) and the difficulties of communicating to the Police on the ground (have you ever played the game where you direct someone wearing a blindfold).

The evening taught me two important facts:

?         The Police Air Support Unit are considerate and sympathetic towards the public. At night they have to justify the deployment of the aircraft for operational reasons only, once over the city they will fly between 1500 to 2000 feet and not the permitted 500 feet, they try to complete any operation within half an hour (rarely continuing after one hour), and will only fly after midnight in extreme circumstances.

?         The Police Air Support Unit are worth every penny.  In Portsmouth between 1st May 2003 to 30th July 2003 the aircraft was deployed 42 times, 22 of these for criminal searches and 3 for missing people. Over the whole of Hampshire they expect between 100 to 150 missing person call outs a year.