Police "Eagle" Unit receives international recognition

In Nov 1988 after a succession of bank robberies, the New Zealand Police, in conjunction with, and the support of the ASB bank, and Heli holdings Ltd came to a forward thinking decision, starting a 3 month trial to use police officers in a rotor aircraft to combat the rising crime in the city of Auckland New Zealand. This proved to be such a success they had apprehended their first armed bank robber on the first day of the trial. (He fell off his motorcycle on a rural road, while attempting his get a way after robbing a bank. Unfortunately for him the newly developed unit was over head and quickly decided to land, resulting with him being outnumbered and all the Police officers present taking him into custody. Partly due to this result, and other successes the trail was extended to a 6 month timeframe.

The relationship that was developed in those early months and years are still extremely strong and still in a successful partnership after 21 continuous years of operation. The Police personel who were instrumental in developing and setting the ground rules or procedures for todays unit were Insp Graeme Murphy and Sgt “Lou” Grant

The staff of the unit in the early days, encountered and overcame obstacles that today’s airborne officers would rarely even consider. For example, the all important radio communications with the ground were nearly impossible with the technology of the time. Also when they did get hold of someone on the radio they had no way of identifying which officer they were talking to. Commonly telling the pursuing officer to turn and having to watch 3-4 other unrelated officers all turn as well.

The ASU, or Air Support Unit. Call sign “EAGLE” started out in humble airframes being Jet rangers. Early on in the trial it was proven these airframes were not considered the best option. Trials were completed in other airframes, namely a Hughes 500. After careful consideration and taking into account the constant debate of single vs. twin, it was decided by the Police adminstration in March 1989 to begin to operate in an Aerospatiale 355, or twin squirrel. Now know by the name of Eurocopter.

With the agreed schedule of work, and constant demand for service from the police department, it was established that a second machine was needed to maintain continuity of service. In July 1991 the second machine was brought online. This also allowed the hours of operation to expand to cover most of the demand. (One airframe is currently just over 20,000 hours while the other is just under 20,000).  

As the unit became more popular, with success in so many areas of policing, more specialist equipment was purchased. Some items were purchased by the department with the remaining items purchased by generous donations made by members of the community, i.e. rotary clubs. This equipment consisted of gyro-stabilized binoculars, and a  nightsun lamp assembly.

Today, all the specialized equipment is purchased by the Police Department. This includes an Infra red imaging system, and expanding to moving map (g.p.s linked computer mapping systems) and Night Vision Goggles and associated systems.

Like all airborne units, the constant threat of other aircraft around busy city airspace is always present. This was brought to everyone’s attention with the tragic mid air collision of the Police aircraft and a fixed wing aircraft over the central city motorway system in Nov 1993. Resulting in the tragic loss of 4 aviator’s lives. (Two sworn police officers and two pilots)

In respect to the unit members that were lost that day, the remaining unit members took over from their friends and after reassessing all the systems and procedures, were airborne again the following week. The strong leadership of Sgt Brian Pilkington was instrumental at this time and stood the unit in good stead for the following decade under his leadership. One of his motivational statements was “you will never catch the bad guys sitting in the office”.

The ASU staffing has 1 Sergeant and 7 Tactical Flight Officers who work two-man shifts between 0700 hrs – 0300 hrs. 

The patrolled district, from Wellsford/Mangawhai in the north down to  Mercer in the south, covers an area of land and sea of approximately 17,500 sq km (6,700 sq miles). The unit is also utilized out-of-district for various operations and covert tasking covering the country – an area of approximately 266,000 sq km (103,000 sq m).

As the ‘Eagle’ operation is a nationwide asset, software and hardware carried onboard allow the crew to operate practically anywhere and provide the same service which the Police in Auckland are accustomed

The ASU crew, have a number of years of general duties (GDB) experience as well as time served in supervisory roles. They have good geographical knowledge and map reading skills. A solid constitution is needed at times due to the manner is which the airframe is maneuvered to allow us to keep a real-time ‘birds-eye’ overview of the scene and are therefore capable of taking control of incidents where the immediate direction of ground staff may resolve the situation or where ground staff may be utilized to greater effect.

The high profile, and speed of response, offered by Police helicopter operations, helps provide assurance, it acts as a deterrent factor for prospective offenders, and Police staff attending to an incident has a far greater chance of making an apprehension. It has been necessary for the ASU to land the helicopter to effect an arrest and have also been required to apprehend armed offenders in volatile situations where immediate ground staff back-up has been unavailable.

Criminal intelligence reports and projections from district patrol areas are forwarded to the ASU office and incorporated with daily operational planning. 

From routine incidents to serious criminal activity, the ASU play an integral role with combined Police specialist squads (AOS, STG, SAR, SSG, VIPPS, DPS, etc) and also in multi-lateral operations (AIAL, Fire, Ambulance, Defense Forces, Coastguard, etc).

Reconnaissance of venue sites and route overviews are essential to the smooth and uneventful flow of motorcades

The ASU utilize alternative tactics and techniques for covert Police operations. Assistance and co-operation with external agencies (MAF, Customs, etc) have also had a dramatic effect on the successful conclusions to their investigations and prosecutions.

The senior crew undertakes public speaking duties to inform, encourage, and involve the public, through community groups, schools, clubs and associations. These presentations allow the groups to understand the work we become involved in, within their community at particular times and helps explain ways in which they can protect themselves and their neighbors. We also advise ways in which they are able to provide integral information to the Police during the commission of criminal offending within their neighborhood. These liaisons hopefully provide a valuable link between the ASU and the public and puts a ‘face’ to the big, noisy flying machine that keeps them awake at night. 

NZ is a country synonymous with outdoor leisure pursuits and unfortunately, emergency assistance becomes necessary in certain unforeseen circumstances.     Although the ASU helicopter is not currently configured for rescue procedures, in any emergency where life is in immediate threat, the equipment and seating arrangement on board can be quickly reconfigured to accommodate a stretcher and/or paramedic. Both a buoyancy life preserver and a rescue-pod inflatable raft are also available for carriage to water-borne incidents.

At certain times, photographs of a scene are required while items are ‘in situ’, or a photographic overview of particular 'areas of interest', are invaluable to specialized units for intelligence or covert operations. All ASU crew are familiar with operating the DTV/Infrared downlink and also the SLR camera carried onboard,

The unit maintains a budget of approximately 1800 flight hours a year. This is becoming more and more difficult to maintain due to the rising pressure of calls for service. Over the period of the ASUs’ existence, the number of jobs attended has steadily increased. From the early 2000’s especially, there was a 17% spike increase in the workload of the ASU, and this has been maintained to the present day. For the last twelve months 01/06/08 – 30/06/09, the ASU have attended …… 3403 taskings.

From the tasks faced by the ASU, the unit has been able to maintain a creditably high ‘strike rate’ of 50.0% (where if the unit attends the job the target sought has been located half of the time) where well over half that total (30% strike-rate) is directly attributable to the ASU.

During any of these operations, and throughout the general day-to-day taskings – whether District, Regional or National – there is a very high expectation placed on the ASU for the utilization of the various skills and in use of the specialized equipment. As with any advanced technology, specialized equipment is prone to ‘technological malfunctions’ and the ASU members are still expected to maintain their standard of accuracy and proficiency. The ability to assist in unfamiliar locations or arduous conditions nationwide, has been tested and the delivery of service has been of the high standard expected.

While the only air support unit in the country, attending Airborne Law Enforcement Association courses and lectures over the years, has established the recognition that their standards and procedures are equivalent to ‘industry best practice’ around the world. This is borne out by their safety record and operational procedures which result in a high apprehension rate. The operation is also favorably comparable to some of the larger, more established international airborne units.