National Police Air Support - How Will It Affect You?

Today [26th October 2010] ACPO have gone public with their plans for an eventual National Police Air Service [NPAS], which is expected to be operational from April 2012. The idea behind it is to create a 'more efficient' service with less aircraft [An odd conclusion if ever I've seen one]. The savings are quoted as between £12-18m per annum. Personally I see this as a complete undoing of what Police Air Support in the United Kingdom has strived to achieve since its inception - but alas the bean counters have seen the light [Or the monetary savings in this case]. As the saying goes - the jam is going to be spread very thinly. You are welcome to make your own conclusions as to how removing 8 [or any number of] aircraft will be "improving public safety". Police helicopters do not only undertake their 'primary' role - in three specific cases, Cambridgeshire [Magpas], Sussex [SECAMB] and Wiltshire [GWAS] are all seemingly going to disappear. Granted two of these MD902s are over 10 years old - but what will happen to the specialist level of care provided by the crews on these aircraft? At the same time it should be remembered that the following are subject to change in the coming months. The original ACPO press release on National Police Air Support can be found here. An update from ACPO on 26th January 2012 can be found here.

Latest Update: 19th February 2012

Cambridgeshire Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Close In 2012; MD902 Spare To Eastern EC135s
Central Counties Air Operations Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Cheshire Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Chiltern Air Support Unit	Henlow [G-CPSH] Unit To Close In 2013; Benson Remains
Cleveland Police Air Operations Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Devon & Cornwall Police Air Operations Unit	Relocation To Exeter Airport With Air Ambulance
Dorset Police Air Operations Unit	G-BXZK To Be Relocated To Bournemouth Airport
Dyfed Powys Police Air Support Unit	Helicopter Until 2014; Fixed-Wing Replacement After
East Midlands Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Essex Police Air Support Unit	Remain At Boreham Short Term; Base Leased Until 2017
Greater Manchester Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Humberside Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Lancashire Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Merseyside Police Air Support Unit	Unit Closed July 2011; Cover From North West Air Ops Unit
Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State; Joining NPAS In 2013
Norfolk Police Air Support Unit	Unit Closed March 2011; Cover From Suffolk ASU
North East Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
North Midlands Helicopter Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
North Wales Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
South & East Wales Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
South East Air Support Unit	Odiham [G-SURY] Unit To Close; G-SUSX To Redhill
South Yorkshire Police Air Operations Unit	Unit To Close; Mandated By Government
Suffolk Police Air Support Unit	G-SUFK To Be Relocated To RAF Honington
West Midlands Police Air Operations Unit	Unit To Remain; No Relocation (Proposed NPAS Base Map)
West Yorkshire Police Air Support Unit	Unit To Remain In Current State
Western Counties Air Operations Unit	Unit To Remain; Relocation To RAF Colerne
Wiltshire Police Air Support Unit	Unit Expected To Remain In Place Until 2014

Initially, NPAS will be split into regions to facilitate the transition to a fully borderless model. The regions and expected transition dates are outlined below. Central Region (Oct 2012) - Central Counties AOU, East Midlands ASU, North Midlands HSU, West Midlands AOU. North East Region (2013)  - Cleveland AOU, Humberside ASU, North East ASU, West Yorkshire ASU. North West Region (Jan 2013) - Cheshire ASU, Greater Manchester ASU, Lancashire ASU, North Wales ASU. South East Region (Oct 2012)* - Essex ASU, Metropolitan ASU, South East ASU, Suffolk ASU, Thames Valley ASU. South West Region (Apr 2013) - Devon & Cornwall AOU, Dorset ASU, Dyfed Powys ASU, South & East Wales ASU, Western Counties AOU. *The Metropolitan Police ASU will join later due to the 2012 Olympics in London.

Outside of England & Wales, the Strathclyde & Police Service of Northern Ireland [PSNI] Air Support Units remain unaffected.

To all the crews that I have met [And those that I haven't] at Air Support Units UK-wide during the past decade I can only wish you good luck and hope that you do not end up losing your jobs - you do sterling work day-in-day-out, something which I have always tried to advocate wherever possible, be it through this site or by other means.

UK Emergency Aviation > National Police Air Support In The United Kingdom