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The Cleveland Air Operations Unit (CAOU) was the air support/operations unit for the
Cleveland Police
{{UK home nations police forces Police aviation units of the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom 2009 establishments in England
The Cleveland Air Operations Unit (CAOU) was the air support/operations unit for the Cleveland Police
Cleveland Police is a territorial police force in England responsible for the policing the boroughs of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire and Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham within North East England. T ...
force. It has since been replaced with the national asset to police: National Police Air Service (NPAS)
History
Between 1995 and 2009 Cleveland Police was a member of the North East Air Support Unit which was a consortium withDurham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
and Northumbria
Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland.
The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
police forces. The agreement fell apart over funding and location issues so Cleveland Police bought their own helicopter with funds coming from the Cleveland Police Authority and the government.
The Cleveland Air Operations Unit was officially declared operational on 1 April 2009. The helicopter was based at Durham Tees Valley Airport.
In 2010, the chief constables of all of England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
' police forces agreed to pool resources and create the National Police Air Service
The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43
territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well as the three special police forces serving that area. It replaced the p ...
. Under this framework, it was announced that bases and helicopters would be shared across force boundaries with a model to reduce from 31 bases down to 22. In February 2015, it was announced that this reduction would cut further with a move towards 15 national locations with the Cleveland Police helicopter becoming surplus to requirements in the 2016/2017 financial year.
Fleet
The Cleveland Air Operations Unit had one helicopter. 2009–2010Eurocopter EC135
The Airbus Helicopters H135, formerly Eurocopter EC135, is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic flig ...
T1, registration G-NESV. 2010–2012 Eurocopter EC135P2, registration G-CPAS. It was based at Teesside International Airport
Teesside International Airport , formerly Durham Tees Valley Airport, is a small international airport in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It primarily serves Teesside (including Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees), south and ...
. Its police call sign was "India 55".
Use
The helicopter supported numerous areas of operational policing such as providing video footage, which was vital in directing officers and other emergency services during major incidents. This technology also enabled the police to capture evidence effectively. The aircraft was equipped with thermal imaging cameras for locating criminals and missing people. The helicopter was also called on to transport people with life-threatening injuries to hospital, when theGreat North Air Ambulance
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a registered charity and Air Ambulance, air ambulance based in the United Kingdom. It operates a dedicated helicopter emergency service for the North of England with three aircraft. It serves Nor ...
was unavailable.
The helicopter unit appeared on Channel 5's ''Interceptor'' programme alongside their ground-based colleagues. The last section of filming took place over the end of 2015 and into the start of 2016.
See also
*Police aviation
Police aviation is the use of aircraft in police operations. Police services commonly use aircraft for traffic control, ground support, search and rescue, high-speed car pursuits, observation, air patrol and control of large-scale public events ...
* Police aviation in the United Kingdom
Police aviation in United Kingdom provides Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, British police forces with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking. All police aviation in England and Wales comes under the Na ...
References
External links
Cleveland Police
{{UK home nations police forces Police aviation units of the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom 2009 establishments in England