New Delhi: Few would disagree that 1,000 vans are too inadequate to patrol a city spread over 1,484sq kms and with a population of 1.65 crore. However, Friday's air patrol initiative could change the way Delhi Police has been handling law and order and crime situations in the capital so far. Top cop B S Bassi seems confident as he said that chopper-aided policing would not remain a one-time experiment.
"All over the world, police organizations use choppers for crime prevention, apprehension of criminals, law and order and crowd control, traffic management, evacuation and rapid force deployment. I have no doubt that choppers shall be useful in policing the capital," Bassi told TOI. Sources say the police brass is awaiting necessary approvals in this regard.
Senior officers, who have visited western countries on exchange programmes, are surprised that the largest metropolitan force in the world has remained dependent solely on force deployment on the ground. "Aerial policing or police aviation is alien to Delhi and the rest of the country but it is a major part of police agencies in the west. The US was first to establish a police aviation unit in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. NYPD and LAPD depend a lot on patrol choppers for situations ranging from crowd control to ferrying accident victims or even dangerous inmates," said an officer.
24/10/15 Raj Shekhar/Times of India
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"All over the world, police organizations use choppers for crime prevention, apprehension of criminals, law and order and crowd control, traffic management, evacuation and rapid force deployment. I have no doubt that choppers shall be useful in policing the capital," Bassi told TOI. Sources say the police brass is awaiting necessary approvals in this regard.
Senior officers, who have visited western countries on exchange programmes, are surprised that the largest metropolitan force in the world has remained dependent solely on force deployment on the ground. "Aerial policing or police aviation is alien to Delhi and the rest of the country but it is a major part of police agencies in the west. The US was first to establish a police aviation unit in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. NYPD and LAPD depend a lot on patrol choppers for situations ranging from crowd control to ferrying accident victims or even dangerous inmates," said an officer.
24/10/15 Raj Shekhar/Times of India
