Surge in operations for police helicopter
Operations involving the West Midlands police helicopter increased by 1,000 last year, helping the force recover stolen property worth more than £3 million, it has been revealed.
Operations involving the West Midlands police helicopter increased by 1,000 last year, helping the force recover stolen property worth more than £3 million, it has been revealed.
But although the total number of resulting arrests has risen, the proportion dropped from one in seven to one in 10 incidents on average. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show the number of incidents involving the helicopter increased by more than a third compared to the previous year.
But the number of arrests resulting from the air support went down in proportion to the number of times the helicopter was called out.
Latest figures show one arrest for every 10 incidents attended compared to the previous year's average of one arrest for every seven incidents.
During the past two years the helicopter has attended 6,535 call-outs, with 2,745 in 2007/08 and 3,790 in 2008/09.
In 2007/08 the helicopter was involved in 374 arrests, while in 2008/09 it was involved in 418, which means arrests made as a result of the flights have plummeted from 14 per cent to an 11 per cent success rate. There were 10 air tests and one casualty evacuation where the aircraft acted as an air ambulance in an extreme circumstance during the past year.
The helicopter was also sent out 158 times to take photos, 17 times for public order incidents, 130 times for pursuits, 815 times for searches, 91 times for tactical support, 189 times for targeted patrols, and 86 times for training.
Officers declined to provide a breakdown of exact details for each individual call-out due to the cost of locating information exceeding the "appropriate level" of £450.
West Midlands Police spokesman Jaspreet Jagdev said the helicopter was on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. She said: "The helicopter is used in pre-planned operations as well as being available to offer support to officers anywhere in the force area.
"It plays a key role in police pursuits and the location of vulnerable missing people as well as rapid response crime fighting."