What an absolute joke. The Premier today stated that the Far North did not need a police helicopter. WTF?
The Premier had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table to get police even a trial on a helicopter. They even had to be embarrased into it by the Gold Coast Council putting up $500,000.
Now the Premier is making decisions, arrangements and announcements before the trial helicopter has even been rolled out. How can she know a helicopter is not viable for Cairns and FNQ if the trial hasn't been started, let alone completed?
Cairns and FNQ is unique. The distance and terrain makes a helicopter viable. The recent increase in crime and offenders fleeing police makes a helicopter viable. The risk to FNQ road users from recent offenders fleeing police makes it viable. Innocent by-standers have been killed by fleeing criminals, makes a helicopter viable.
Cairns is the only place outside Brisbane that has a permanent Special Emergency Response Team (SERT). A SERT team makes a police helicopter viable. The recent grounding of the Emergency Management Queensland helicopter fleet,twice, makes a police helicopter viable.
If the Premier has already made up her mind about police helicopters, why is she going through with this farce of a trial? If she has already made up her mind, why is she wasting GC rate payers money? Given his passion for running off to the CMC why hasn't the treasurer reported the govt for receiving $500,000 of GC rate payer money on false pretences?
NQ police aren't competent to use a police helicopter. Most of them can't find an address on the ground, much less in the air. And we'll likely find that helicopters are used mostly to give traffic citations, so that they can "pay for themselves".
ReplyDeleteThe coppers here can't even protect themselves from teenagers attacking them - how are they going to benefit from a helicopter?
Thanks for the informed opinion and contribution to the debate Bryan.
ReplyDeleteThe police have an airwing in Cairns that fly a number of aircraft from that base throughout the Cape and regularly to Brisbane and back. It is staffed by professional pilots, as would a helicopter so you don't have to worry about Mr Plod being at the controls.
The story on the airwing in NSW being used for traffic infringements was clearly not cost effective and to use a helicopter in such circumstances woudl be even more expensive so would not happen.
The helicopter won't be used to drop Plod at an address so that shouldn't be a problem.Maybe we should get a navman/GPS in patrol cars if they can't find an address
It would be used to follow fleeing offenders in a safe manner, locate offenders hiding, transport SERT teams, for use during natural disasters due to the increased role police have in disaster management now etc.
I'm pretty sure their not asking for a helicopter gunship so the attacking teenagers shouldn't be a problem either they'll have to look after that on the ground.
The key issue in this post is that the Premier has made decisions before the trial has even occured which means said trial is a farce and waste of money as the Premier, as always under this ALP govt.,is going to do what they want anyway.