Sorry about the pun – it was way too tempting!
So here we are – back in the room and wondering where I should go first. The Parliamentary pay rises, the latest in-house politics or the failure of our National Police Air Service to deliver anything like the service that we were promised…
After literally seconds of consideration, I think that NPAS has to take the top spot as it has had a significantly detrimental effect on our ability to catch the baddies since its introduction.
Firstly, and very importantly, I am NOT deriding the skill and value of those on the NPAS teams. I have been lucky enough to spend some time with one such crew and my experience was that they are hugely motivated, superbly capable and represent a massive benefit when utilised effectively in supporting our officers on the ground. The changes in their role and the limitations that Nationalising the service has brought with it are just as frustrating to them as they are to anyone. I am also lucky enough to know a couple of observers from elsewhere in the country and am confident that I have their support in speaking out on this issue.
Back in the early days of my career each force that could support the cost had its own aircraft, whether that was rotary or fixed wing, and the troops knew that (barring flying hours or horrific weather) they could rely on the eye in the sky to be there when they needed it. Searches of open ground, pursuits or the more mundane jobs such as aerial photography for a fatal accident were simply tasked by the control room and got sorted with little pain or complication. These days the story is different…
Those forces that have already joined the scheme – one of Nick Herberts many legacies – now find themselves having to enter a bidding war with two or three other forces every time they need an aircraft. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose – every time though we have to wait. Those forces that dont host one of the new NPAS sites now have deployment times of up to 30 or 40 minutes in some cases. This is a massive increase on the 10 to 15 minute average that existed pre-nationalisation.
In some cases, granted, that extra delay has little effect on the job in question, but there are many when it does, and even more when the answer is simply ‘no’ from the outset. With two or three counties making demands on one aircraft and crew, pilot hours are quickly exhausted, or the aircraft is simply too busy elsewhere to attend.
I could fill several posts with details of when the lack of an aircraft in good time, or at all, has meant that things havent turned out well. Unfortunately most who were involved would easily remember these jobs as some were pretty catastrophic so I shall avoid the temptation and leave the comments open for anyone who might want to share their experiences or thoughts on the service being provided. I would be particularly interested in hearing from anyone in South Wales who are under pressure to join the scheme, regardless of the impact on their service by the 2015 deadline.
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