View Full Version : Sky Cops (Rant!!)
So then, i have been watching Sky cops on BBC1 and frankly, what a waste of fecking money the police helicopters are. At £5milion each and cost i think its something in the region of £500 per flight to chase people through fields for a poxy low rate crime, i mean what a waste. Especailly when the Air Ambulance have to be sponsored for them to fly/operate, its disgusting it really is.
Sod the police, give the choppers to the NHS for air ambulances, sometning that saves lives.
:rant:
vardypeeps
03-02-09, 12:57 PM
LOL fair point tho. Never looked at it like that.
Dangerous Dave
03-02-09, 01:23 PM
Sod the police, give the choppers to the NHS for air ambulances, sometning that saves lives.
+ 1, most of the Air Ambulance's are charity run which just shows that the government think money is more important than lives. I have been rescued once by an Air Ambulance, I will always be in there debt and will support them for as long as I can.
Spiderman
03-02-09, 01:36 PM
he's right you know....its rare, but this time he is. :D
Saying that tho the jellychoppers do respond to very hi risk crimes too so maybe they need to do a job-share with the choppers and if the air ambulance need it more than the cops do let them have it for the shout.
Reckless Rat
03-02-09, 01:39 PM
LOL fair point tho. Never looked at it like that.
+1
Damn, I'll add that to my dark thoughts when I next see them hovering making the sort of racket no one else would get away with.
Does the Copper Chopper have any deterent effect?
Is part of the cost recoverable through Police Chase type TV?
Dave20046
03-02-09, 01:46 PM
So then, i have been watching Sky cops on BBC1 and frankly, what a waste of fecking money the police helicopters are. At £5milion each and cost i think its something in the region of £500 per flight to chase people through fields for a poxy low rate crime, i mean what a waste. Especailly when the Air Ambulance have to be sponsored for them to fly/operate, its disgusting it really is.
Sod the police, give the choppers to the NHS for air ambulances, sometning that saves lives.
:rant:
Or £50 mil for a painting :)
That fake town thing looked cool but ikt was very expensive too lol:smt072
Tiger 55
03-02-09, 02:24 PM
what a waste of fecking money the police helicopters are.
Well it keeps a roof over my head...
So if it's £500 to chase - and catch - a bad guy with a helicopter, how much to chase him with cops? How many cops are tied up with that and for how long while you're getting burgled? What's the fatality rate from vehicle pursuits in counties with helicopters versus those without? How many lives are saved finding the lost or suicidal and how much are those lives worth?
And a million other questions! Straightforward it ain't that's for sure and it all depends on how you count your beans. Strathclyde, Sussex and Northumberland all say yes, Lothian, Kent and Cumbria all say no. Who's to say who's right?
maybe they need to do a job-share with the choppers and if the air ambulance need it more than the cops do let them have it for the shout.
You're a genius Spidey! And those of you lucky enough to live in Wiltshire and Sussex that's exactly what you get - cop in the front, paramedic in the back and all government funded so no charity to worry about. Jubbly.
But anybody who thinks the budget could be removed from the Police and handed to the NHS is living in joined up government la la land!
SoulKiss
03-02-09, 02:35 PM
How many cops are tied up with that and for how long while you're getting burgled?
Sorry, I find it hard to believe that cops on the street stop burglaries.
Unless you are proposing a "bobby for every back garden".
I would rather be burgled than die.
Tiger 55
03-02-09, 02:41 PM
Sorry, I find it hard to believe that cops on the street stop burglaries.
I wouldn't have thought so but they do catch them afterwards, albeit more often if they have some help looking, and they do come running if you shout help, which they can't do if they're poking about in woods or fields.
I would rather be burgled than die.
Not sure I follow your argument there mate, but it's a hard sentiment to disagree with!
SoulKiss
03-02-09, 02:55 PM
Not sure I follow your argument there mate, but it's a hard sentiment to disagree with!
To clarify (although I thought my original ravings were perfectly clear in the exact same way as mud is :p)
I would rather minor crime involving property only happened due there not being a police helicopter than to die because there wasn't a Helimed unit.
shonadoll
03-02-09, 02:56 PM
I think they do do double duty here, and thank god for the people that are up in all weathers flying them and saving lives - I think everyone would agree they are worth every penny for saving lives alone.
Well it keeps a roof over my head...
So if it's £500 to chase - and catch - a bad guy with a helicopter, how much to chase him with cops? How many cops are tied up with that and for how long while you're getting burgled? What's the fatality rate from vehicle pursuits in counties with helicopters versus those without? How many lives are saved finding the lost or suicidal and how much are those lives worth?
And a million other questions! Straightforward it ain't that's for sure and it all depends on how you count your beans. Strathclyde, Sussex and Northumberland all say yes, Lothian, Kent and Cumbria all say no. Who's to say who's right?
You're a genius Spidey! And those of you lucky enough to live in Wiltshire and Sussex that's exactly what you get - cop in the front, paramedic in the back and all government funded so no charity to worry about. Jubbly.
But anybody who thinks the budget could be removed from the Police and handed to the NHS is living in joined up government la la land!Ok tiger, i here waht you are saying, then they should ban programmes like Sky cops, because in my eyes all it shows them doing IS chasing down low rate criminals(who get off with a suspended scentance then re-offend 3 weeks later), or following car chases. A far better use for the chopper is to follow said car thief wait until he stops and not chase them on the ground, therefore reducing the 'Chase' aspect from it, making it much safer for the people on the ground. In these kind of programmes, they just make it look pointless and frankly a waste of money.
I think they do do double duty here, and thank god for the people that are up in all weathers flying them and saving lives - I think everyone would agree they are worth every penny for saving lives alone.What, police Choppers? I find it hard to see how they would/could/do save more lives than an air ambulance which is Chairty funded, thats the part that im dgging at, the fact the government thinks one is paid for by us (taxation), and the other...paid for by us (chairty donations/sponsorship, a la Virgin etc.
I personally think alot more people get caught because of helicopters and there heat source cameras, which can only be a good thing.
Car thieves, burgulars, anybody running from the police can be traced and more often than not caught by a police chopper.......ALOT more people would get away if it was not for the poice helicopters.
I think they are good.
Tiger 55
03-02-09, 04:45 PM
I would rather minor crime involving property only happened due there not being a police helicopter than to die because there wasn't a Helimed unit.
I speak for everybody when I say +1, but it isn't an either or. When our dear Chancellor doles out the money he isn't giving the helicopter money to the cops instead of the NHS. Some police forces and NHS trusts choose to spend their cash on helicopters and some don't, that's where the choice is made.
A far better use for the chopper is to follow said car thief wait until he stops and not chase them on the ground
Plenty of forces agree, but Sky Cops or UK Street Crime etc don't show footage of what you've just described because it'd be duller than Time Team. Confirming that a missing person isn't in a large area of open ground would make even less enthralling TV, but using a helicopter for that saves huge amounts of time and resources. These shows do us all a favour by educating the crims that it's waste of time to run away from a helicopter, which is one reason most pursuits now last about 2 minutes where before they lasted for ages.
the part that im dgging at, the fact the government thinks one is paid for by us (taxation), and the other...paid for by us (chairty donations/sponsorship, a la Virgin etc.
Amen to that, and charities are big business. The NHS doesn't use it's money for helicopters because they are already provided by someone else and if they did it would just divert money from elsewhere, maybe the A&E department where you get dropped off. The way it is now I still have no clue whether everybody wins or everybody loses :confused:
Tiger 55
03-02-09, 04:50 PM
thank god for the people that are up in all weathers flying them and saving lives
Don't thank Her, got nothing to do with it. Thank Eurocopter Deutschland or Pratt & Whitney or somebody useful. ;)
And Police helicopters do save lives by transporting injured people to hospital, especially in more rural areas (or countries!) or in summer when the ambulances are swamped. An air ambulance just does it 10 times better for the same money...
Dangerous Dave
03-02-09, 05:14 PM
those of you lucky enough to live in Wiltshire and Sussex that's exactly what you get - cop in the front, paramedic in the back and all government funded so no charity to worry about.
I know for a fact that statement is not true. The Wiltshire Air Ambulance crossed the border into Dorset to pick me up after my big crash, the NHS do not pay towards the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and only there charity does. No government funding is offered to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Police side of things is covered by the Police Air Support service and has a limited budget. The Wiltshire Air Ambulance charity, contributions made by residents of Wiltshire and those of us from outside Wiltshire that have been unfortunate to be passengers, pays for all Ambulance work. This cost averages to be one third of the yearly cost.
Whilst I do not live in Wiltshire anymore I donate to the charity, not only is it a life saver to the civilian world but it can also reach all areas of Salisbury Plain in minutes aiding any military exercise casualties.
http://www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/aboutus.htm
The fact remains the Police side of this helicopter is fully supported by the government, were as the Ambulance side has only the charitable contributions and the volunteers (including the paramedics) to keep it going.
Tiger 55
03-02-09, 05:55 PM
the NHS do not pay towards the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and only there charity does.
Well you've got your ducks in a row there mate and I am happy to stand corrected. Either I wasn't paying attention when I was a pilot for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance or things have changed, probably the former! The aircraft and crewing are identical to Sussex and I assumed (the mother of all f*ck up) that the finance was the same too. Wrong. Sorry.
Anyway, picked up a few mangled Dorset bikers back in the day, when was your big one?
Biker Biggles
03-02-09, 06:02 PM
I believe the London one is paid for by sponsorship,but the NHS pays for the medical staff on it.Dont know if that includes the pilot.It also has a parking lot on top of the London Hospital and I assume that was built and paid for by the NHS.There is also back up road transport (for when it cant fly)and control services which are NHS supplied.
Shellywoozle
03-02-09, 06:08 PM
There are 3 levels of criminality and you usually find that even the ones that the ones that flea across fields and need tracking from the air have some interesting motives.
For example the car thief, stealing a car why? Joy ride, or to go and commit further offences, ram raiding, cash in transit robberies, burglaries. Catch them at the early stages and all the follow on offences are stopped in their tracks. You don't know they are going to happen as they haven't cause you stopped them. So maybe it was your house that was next on the list. Or like one local to me, a wealthy family been targetted whilst at home for their 2 cars, tied up and hurt.
Or a child gone missing, can't find them as the area is too big or it's too dark but the helicopter can assist.
Air Cops also have the functionality of transporting injured.
I say we need more of them and they do a great job! This is my experience from working with them, they don't come out unless an area is cordoned off on the ground and there is a chance of catching the scroat. Air time allowing and weather conditions too.
Flamin_Squirrel
03-02-09, 06:35 PM
A heli is going to pay towards its self by acting as a deterrent. Maybe it'll cover its cost, maybe it won't. Quite frankly though, in the grand scheme of things the cost of running one is peanuts and shouldn't even warrant discussion.
In fact, relatively speaking this isn't wouldn't even be a large scale of waste, even if they were burning the £5mil + operating costs. There are far worse examples of waste out there, but because they're less emotive noone cares.
Dangerous Dave
04-02-09, 11:20 AM
Well you've got your ducks in a row there mate and I am happy to stand corrected. Either I wasn't paying attention when I was a pilot for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance or things have changed, probably the former! The aircraft and crewing are identical to Sussex and I assumed (the mother of all f*ck up) that the finance was the same too. Wrong. Sorry.
Sorry, didn't mean to come out as a rant (had a crap day).
Tiger 55
04-02-09, 12:30 PM
Sorry, didn't mean to come out as a rant (had a crap day).
No apology necessary mate, I am firmly back in my box. :cool:
£5m each? That's positively cheap. You only get a tenth of a painting for that;)
Watched that Sky Cops rubbish once and thought it was, well rubbish. They only showed IIRC Greater Manchester and one of the Yorkshire forces helicoptors in action, so based on this information alone (as a lot of people base their whole view of the police on - some poxy TV show:confused:) I reckon we should bin the 2 choppers on this show and use the cash for Jacqui Smith to honour her payrise agreements as she should. The cash could also be used to give us more officers on the ground so we aren't sticking our necks out undermanned on a daily/nightly basis for a bunch of largely winging, moaning and ungrateful public.
Bin choppers :rolleyes: Whatever next?
ps.... as you can tell I've had a bad day too....sorry.
yorkie_chris
04-02-09, 06:25 PM
You can't really expect the public to be grateful while the lawmakers make a mockery of the risks the police take.
Dangerous Dave
04-02-09, 06:41 PM
You can't really expect the public to be grateful while the lawmakers make a mockery of the risks the police take.
+ 1, the old bill have rules and laws to follow and yet the crimals they face do not have any respect for those same rules and laws .
yorkie_chris
04-02-09, 06:44 PM
Not just that, you have to treat the coppers with a lot of caution, a few of my mates have been nicked for legitimately defending themselves.
Tiger 55
04-02-09, 07:37 PM
a few of my mates have been nicked for legitimately defending themselves.
Legitimately defending themselves against attack by coppers? How does one get into that unfortunate situation old boy? I can't see Shellywoozle wading in with the pepper spray and boot for 'looking at me in a funny way.' Carlos maybe...
yorkie_chris
04-02-09, 07:48 PM
No, nicked for legitimately defending themselves against other people, not coppers.
Including one incident where the aggressor attempted to use a broken bottle, and the coppers thought it was excessive that he ended up with broken ribs and fingers, and decided to press charges. Where's the justice in taking a mans livelihood off him for defending himself against attempted murder!?
This is an off-topic rant, so I will shut up now.
Tiger 55
04-02-09, 08:30 PM
No, nicked for legitimately defending themselves against other people, not coppers.
Sorry, I could have misunderstood your first post more if I'd taken a run up, but only just.
Well here's hoping that somebody higher up the criminal justice food chain recognises self defence when they see it.
yorkie_chris
04-02-09, 08:33 PM
Yeah, but far better to not trust this to happen, because they don't. Coppers will arrest you and try to charge you whatever the circumstances... so from a self-protection point of view; do unto others before they do unto you... then f##k off before the police arrive.
Dave20046
04-02-09, 09:10 PM
When we were kids (only a few years ago :p) a big middleage ****head baarnsley bloke attacked us and the coppers turned up and tried to arrest us for the injuries he sustained! But the bus driver stuck up for us and was like what are you on about so they left it.
Dangerous Dave
05-02-09, 10:51 AM
No, nicked for legitimately defending themselves against other people, not coppers.
Been there, done that....
yorkie_chris
05-02-09, 05:48 PM
A lot of self protection books refer to the rozzers as "the second enemy"
Dave20046
05-02-09, 06:17 PM
Humberside's chopper was £4mil, did we get ripped off
dizzyblonde
05-02-09, 09:16 PM
Hi I'm Sheriff John Bunnell.(retired).....you know me from such programmes as Worlds Wildest police chases....:smt042
Shellywoozle
05-02-09, 09:55 PM
A lot of self protection books refer to the rozzers as "the second enemy" :smt009 :smt086:smt022
yorkie_chris
05-02-09, 10:00 PM
As much as you seem a lovely person, I bet given the "fog of war", you would still nick me for such an occurence, and some kn0bber back at the station would decide to pass it on up the line, and some even bigger kn0bber at CPS would decide it worth going to court.
Far better to just stick to f##king off before you arrive y'see... saves you a load of paperwork too :-P
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