Its something we are all guilty of to an extent, just part of human nature, and a sub concious part of our predator vs prey defence system. Regardless of if you are trying to make judgements or decision, or its just happening all on its own, your brain is constantly assessing people and things around you. Now, most of those results are very simple. Scanning for danger, threats, or warning signs around us. Its how we cross roads, drive cars, and even just walk down the street. They are quick, sub-concious decisions, made in less than the blink of an eye. Like the decision in a flow diagram, each response triggers an action and so on.
So all perfectly natural up until this point.
However, sometimes we allow our decision making process to become a very concious thing, and that's where it takes a turn, sometimes for the worst. When we profile a situation, say walking past a group outside a shop. The average person listens for raised voices, checking for anger and aggression, looks for body language, very visible arm and hand gestures, lots of jumping around, or calm... We make that decision very quickly and act accordingly. Some people however allow another influence in to their decision making process. Stereotypes and pigeon holing.
For these people, the answers to the first questions were all safe, calm, relaxed, no shouting... But hang on, what's their ethnic origin.. Once we know that then surely the decision rests on that and that alone. Are they from a nation stereotyped for thefts, violence, harassment? Well then clearly the situation is dangerous. Turn back before all hope is lost!
Statistics bare some of the blame for this, as well as negative reporting from all aspects of mainstream and social media. Each group claiming the other is to blame, each group stereotyped for certain behaviours. Just like all Chelsea and Millwall fans are mindless violent thugs, all Romanians are deemed thieves, or Nigerians are scammers. Its this kind of pigeon holing of groups in society, both official and public that cause most of today's problems. This isn't to say of course that there is NO truth in the statistics, of course there is. But how it is reported, and how it is interpreted by society is what really makes the difference.
If a headline read "20 black men detained in street brawl" certain groups in society would role their eyes and draw conclusions about how violent they are, and it must be a gang. If the sub headline then read. "100 armed white men descended on a Jamaican club this evening, starting a racially motivated attack. Police detained the victims in a police carrier for their safety" then some clarity would appear. However the choice of headline is what gets the ball rolling on how we perceive a story, and from that point on, we have already drawn a preliminary conclusion to the matter. Its all about getting the whole story, and not relying on a single line or statement to make our decisions on.
Sadly this darker side of profiling is present in all walks of society. Hatred and anger towards the armed forces, politicians, and the police. Obviously I am going to focus on the police here.
Now, starting with me experience of the police, something I can describe accurately and openly.
In trouble with the police in 1990 for the first time in my life, having encountered them on many occasions as a kid, just from being a little scallywag. In 1990 I did something wrong, and was dealt with for it. I was dealt with quite firmly, but maintained my respect for the police officers I was in communication with. Needless to say it was a different force back then. Mainly because people respected them. And not because they behaved differently as such, not because they were nicer people and fairer or anything. But because encountering the police in an official capacity meant you were busted, and there were no political correctness groups, hate groups, human rights groups or other 'its not fair' lobbyists telling them what you deserved.
One thing that has become SO very apparent over recent years is grading. And by that I mean of offences. Why is it every time someone is stopped or arrested for something, the line "do some real work, go catch some "insert here whatever crime the arrestee considers worse than theirs".Its a funny old world, where the criminal of whatever degree now has a say in what's right and wrong. Well if their feelings on right and wrong are so strong now... What happened during the offence?
In later years of my life I have experienced the changes in how the force works. From the difference in stance needed when making a simple traffic stop, to the paper mountain that now consumes the police. Most of which is necessary because of the onslaught of do gooders and PC activists who think they know best.
Example. Years ago I was stopped in Epsom, late at night, driving a modified car. Friendly stop, and soon became apparent that the motive for the stop was to ask questions about the car, as one of the officers was about to buy one. After a long chat, the officer in question apologised and said he was going to have to issue me a producer as there was a record of the stop, so all the boxes needed ticking. As he wrote it he continued to apologise, and we joked about how things had changed and they were not even able to stop me for a chat without paperwork.
It fair to say that not all encounters are as smooth, and I recall another stop, in the same car in Victoria. Again late at night, a car on blues wove its way through the one way system, came in behind me, flashed once, I indicated and slowed looking for a safe place to stop. This was followed by frantic headlight flashing, so I stopped immediately, sadly on zig-zags. The officer raced from the car, greeted me as I exited my car, and opened with "well that's a stupid place to stop". I responded by questioning his decision to become over excited with his headlights at this exact point, and offered to move the car a little further to a safer location and was told "don't bother, you are stopped now!"
So, its not all positive I have to say.
So lets go back to the beginning, profiling, snap decisions, and our reactions.
Many believe that officers of all nationalities and races have issues with the black community, and have no tolerance towards them. Fairness goes out of the window, and all are met with aggression and harsh treatment.
Having worked on housing estates for many years in an official capacity, I have seen many such encounters start, around the Notting Hill area, it was not uncommon for the police to sweep into an estate in the evening and do stop and searches. ANY group not making a fuss was dealt with quickly, as informally as possible, and with a happy ending (unless of course anything was found). However other groups who displayed frustration or anger, were indeed met with hostility and a very different approach. From the EXACT same group of officers who had just stopped the last group.
It goes back to pigeon holes and profiling. Groups of society learn from others, from past generations, we are taught what each group is, and somehow allow ourselves to be drawn into the mind of the hive. Reacting towards our first encounter with a group, with the lessons we were taught about them. If you grow up in a group or area with bad experiences, or just bad feeling towards another, it is going to be hard to shake those teachings. When the real encounter is made, we revert to instinct and behave accordingly.
When groups of people with historic bad experiences meet, a chain reaction begins. And as it continues, it snowballs, creating more memories and generating more bad blood. Somewhere along the line someone , somehow needs to stop the perpetuation of this. But the end is nowhere in sight.
So, to add to our pigeon holing exercise, all police are mindless thugs! A statement some would happily endorse. The media happily gloats at the continuation of bad feeling between social groups and the police, but like the headline, only tells you the information which will insight bad feeling, perpetuate the story, and give them a great story.
For the record I do NOT believe, nor endorse the above statements of pigeon holes. I feel that each member of society is an individual and starts out deserving respect and consideration of others. I do however believe also that our actions have consequences. Sometimes severe ones, and ones some find unfair and harsh. In this day and age I consider myself law abiding, and a decent member of society. I don't walk by on the other side, nor turn a blind eye. I expect all encounters with the police to be civil, unless I have behaved otherwise.
My final example, Sydenham High Street a few months back. Following a large brawl which I was not aware of at the time, the high street was shut. This had followed a big road traffic accident. Being nosey I made my way up the road to see, on crossing the road I was beeped by a bus who had decided to move off. Angered by his sudden action, and shocked due to being unable to move fast at the time due to ill health, I shouted at the driver. He stopped a few yards later and I made my way to the door to express my anger and frustration. I was greeted very quickly by two pumped up officers, telling me to back up, leave it, and giving me a good talking to. Now further angered and frustrated, I bowed my way from the situation and took to Twitter with some strong words.
Later than night I became aware of the mass brawl earlier, and realised that my actions followed those of the others, and in behaving in the same unruly manner, I had provoked, what I considered at the time, an over board reaction. Realising I was thoroughly in the wrong to have given the officers a hard time, I wrote a formal apology to Lewisham Police. Had I NOT toned down my anger at the time of the incident, I would have expected to have been strong armed to the ground, cuffed and led away. Thankfully having some respect for the officers, and indeed having been greeted in such a high energy manner, the situation calmed very quickly.
Sometimes the strong armed approach is the right approach, other times the gentle approach works better. What you have to consider here is, its training, drilled into the officers, self preservation kicks in and they will react to what they are confronted with. Batoning an 11 year old shoplifter would be excessive. But then believing you have a right to punch, kick, and bite an officer while they try and cuff you, is also very wrong.
Not all officers get it right, a tiny minority allow society to form negative opinions about them. The same way as the minorities in all walks of society create bad statistics and bad feelings about the majority of their groups. Two wrongs don't make a right, but put two groups together which are immediately defensive, and its a recipe for disaster, over and over again.
Then hype these encounters enough, make it seem like its the right thing, and society will believe you and the hatred and anger perpetuates.
This blog was written based on a sweeping statement made by someone, in this case towards and about the police. Using language which would be deemed offensive and inappropriate towards ANY minority group in society. Written media is a powerful and dangerous force. Just as this blog can be too. The written word is only as good as the choices the word-smith makes, and indeed the perception and interpretation of the reader. With no form of immediate discussion, its as simple as the black and white its written in.
There is no one group in society, official or public responsible for the world we live in, we have all played a part somewhere. Anyone who thinks otherwise, I simply disagree.
I could go on forever with this entry, but will end with the following.
Never judge a book by its cover. Colour , nationality, and background tell you nothing about what is inside. Take a second look, take a moment to think rationally, and give EVERYONE an equal chance. Everyone deserves one.
Showing posts with label met police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label met police. Show all posts
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Monday, January 28, 2013
The ASU is not just about pilots and observers..
The one role in the whole ASU system that has so far gone unmentioned in my blogs about @mpsinthesky is the Control Room
Before I go any further, allow me to show you the place, so you can start to comprehend what happens up there.
As you can see, quite a few screens with different data on them to be watching. And this is not all of them. There are more out of view of this picture.
So who works up here, and what is their role in the whole ASU system.
Its easy to think that you make a 999 call, the CAD operator requests i99 to attend, et voila, they are overhead, but its really not as simple as that, so for those interested, allow me to explain a little.
There are a number of ways that you can find the ASU hovering overhead, and a multitude of roles it could be carrying out. The list is not exhaustive, but here are a good few examples of the various roles of the ASU.
Surveillance or info gathering for planned events, such as raids, or public events which require contingency planning.
Monitoring of events on the ground which could result in harm to the public or officers. Flash flooding, protests, and other things which can change in nature suddenly.
Missing persons searches. One of the ASU's largest roles is finding missing vulnerable people, such as the elderly or mentally ill. As well as reports of injured people in remote locations.
Escort duties ranging from diplomats and royalty, to Cat A prisoners too and from court, and under transfers.
As you can see from the list so far, none of this is the high octane, high speed stuff you see on TV. And its roles like those above that I wish more people understood about.
I digress...
Back to the Control Room
The functions carried out up here are anything from communications, to future planning for big jobs, like the Olympics recently. Manned by just a single controller, things can get quite crazy in there at times, especially when there is a lot going on. As well as the pilot monitoring weather, and other conditions, the controller will also be keeping a watchful eye on the weather over the whole area that the ASU cover, and communicating with the CAD rooms requesting i99's assistance, letting them know if it is even possible for them to fly in that area.
The ASU will not attend all jobs it is requested to attend. While it is a powerful tool in the fight against crime, and can transit from one point of Greater London to another in mere minutes, a decision has to be made on both its effectiveness in a requested job, and priority given to other more important incidents. This is where the controller becomes key. While the guys and girls on-board the ASU will be engrossed in the job at hand, the controller can keep an eye on any requests coming in, and help in deciding what job they can attend next, whilst keeping tabs on what's happening on-board via the uplink from the chopper.
All the screens in the control room can give a clear picture of the incident the ASU are dealing with, and the experience of the controller will tell them when the unit may be clear for the next job, while the radio chatter, and information flow from the unit and the CAD rooms will help make this decision. On board the chopper, the observers can also engage in this decision, whilst also identifying other jobs that they can assist in while in the local area. Some great examples of this were given during the tour.
Clearly from everything going on, and the mass of information and requests coming in, chemistry between ALL members of the ASU is vital. From ground staff in the control room and engineering staff, to the pilot and observers, everyone understanding what the others need is what makes the whole unit run so smoothly.
While sitting in the back of the EC145, you appreciate just how much goes on in that little area, and how many functions can be carried out from one seat. Commentary, navigation, observation, photography, filming, tracking, searching and so much more. Meanwhile in the control room, there is just as much multi-tasking going on, with the controller using comms between ground and the air unit, monitoring weather, helping to decide where the unit can go next, receiving live pictures from the helicopter, not forgetting of course the KEY role, keeping the Twitter feed lively.
I joke of course, but thought it prudent to mention that it is in fact the controller on the ground, when time permits, who is updating the Twitter feed. Since my initial POST visit blog, I have been asked a few times about things like this, and can confirm the following.
Only some of the ASU participate in the Twitter feed, so sometimes when it goes a little bit quiet for a shift or a day, it is because the staff on shift are either too busy, or don't currently participate in the updating of the feed.
The amazing pictures that sometimes appear, from scenic night shots of London, to fog shrouded images of the City, right down to the overheads of London's premier football stadiums. These are indeed snapped by the ASU guys up in the chopper. Usually while returning from jobs, and on their own mobile devices, or camera's, then uploaded to Twitter once back at Lippitts Hill. No tax payers money was wasted in the capturing of these images. So anyone feeling robbed or hard done by can put their minds to rest.
Since the Twitter feed of the ASU first started, I have loved the interactions with the staff at Lippitts, and am so happy to see the following of them has grown to somewhere in the region of 30k followers. The feed is a gear insight into the goings on of the unit, and answers those 2am questions of 'why is the helicopter over my house waking me up?' Usually once the matter is resolved a quick update will appear. Of course not EVERY job can be shared via Twitter. Some matters will relate to ongoing investigations and cases, so the information is still too sensitive to be given out.
I have to admit though, I would LOVE to see a full on '24 hours in the ASU feed' just as a one off, just to give people a true understanding of just how much work they can do in a day. Tony was telling us that in a 10 hour period, 6 of those can be spend airborne on jobs, which is a lot more than I imagined.
So @mpsinthesky if you are reading this, I offer my services to do a civilian view of '24 hours in the ASU' ;) (was worth a try eh!)
So next time you see the majestic EC145 hovering over an area near you, know this. There may be 3 crew on board, carrying out a multitude of tasks, none of which will be trivial. But there is also a controller back in the office at Lippitts Hill who is just as much a part of the unit as the guys in the skies. And not to forget the highly skilled engineers also back at Lippitts who schedule and carry out the works on the fleet of 3 EC145's that make up the Met Police ASU.
If they wake up up in the early hours, it is because a crime has been committed locally to you, and they are working towards catching the suspect, and in turn preventing YOU from being the next victim of a burglary, car theft, or street robbery. Have a question about the operation, throw them a tweet on @mpsinthesky .
Thank you once again to all the guys I met on Sunday up at Lippitts, and for sharing so much information with us all. And once again that offer, happy to do '24hours in the ASU' any time lol.
Before I go any further, allow me to show you the place, so you can start to comprehend what happens up there.
As you can see, quite a few screens with different data on them to be watching. And this is not all of them. There are more out of view of this picture.
So who works up here, and what is their role in the whole ASU system.
Its easy to think that you make a 999 call, the CAD operator requests i99 to attend, et voila, they are overhead, but its really not as simple as that, so for those interested, allow me to explain a little.
There are a number of ways that you can find the ASU hovering overhead, and a multitude of roles it could be carrying out. The list is not exhaustive, but here are a good few examples of the various roles of the ASU.
Surveillance or info gathering for planned events, such as raids, or public events which require contingency planning.
Monitoring of events on the ground which could result in harm to the public or officers. Flash flooding, protests, and other things which can change in nature suddenly.
Missing persons searches. One of the ASU's largest roles is finding missing vulnerable people, such as the elderly or mentally ill. As well as reports of injured people in remote locations.
Escort duties ranging from diplomats and royalty, to Cat A prisoners too and from court, and under transfers.
As you can see from the list so far, none of this is the high octane, high speed stuff you see on TV. And its roles like those above that I wish more people understood about.
I digress...
Back to the Control Room
The functions carried out up here are anything from communications, to future planning for big jobs, like the Olympics recently. Manned by just a single controller, things can get quite crazy in there at times, especially when there is a lot going on. As well as the pilot monitoring weather, and other conditions, the controller will also be keeping a watchful eye on the weather over the whole area that the ASU cover, and communicating with the CAD rooms requesting i99's assistance, letting them know if it is even possible for them to fly in that area.
The ASU will not attend all jobs it is requested to attend. While it is a powerful tool in the fight against crime, and can transit from one point of Greater London to another in mere minutes, a decision has to be made on both its effectiveness in a requested job, and priority given to other more important incidents. This is where the controller becomes key. While the guys and girls on-board the ASU will be engrossed in the job at hand, the controller can keep an eye on any requests coming in, and help in deciding what job they can attend next, whilst keeping tabs on what's happening on-board via the uplink from the chopper.
All the screens in the control room can give a clear picture of the incident the ASU are dealing with, and the experience of the controller will tell them when the unit may be clear for the next job, while the radio chatter, and information flow from the unit and the CAD rooms will help make this decision. On board the chopper, the observers can also engage in this decision, whilst also identifying other jobs that they can assist in while in the local area. Some great examples of this were given during the tour.
Clearly from everything going on, and the mass of information and requests coming in, chemistry between ALL members of the ASU is vital. From ground staff in the control room and engineering staff, to the pilot and observers, everyone understanding what the others need is what makes the whole unit run so smoothly.
While sitting in the back of the EC145, you appreciate just how much goes on in that little area, and how many functions can be carried out from one seat. Commentary, navigation, observation, photography, filming, tracking, searching and so much more. Meanwhile in the control room, there is just as much multi-tasking going on, with the controller using comms between ground and the air unit, monitoring weather, helping to decide where the unit can go next, receiving live pictures from the helicopter, not forgetting of course the KEY role, keeping the Twitter feed lively.
I joke of course, but thought it prudent to mention that it is in fact the controller on the ground, when time permits, who is updating the Twitter feed. Since my initial POST visit blog, I have been asked a few times about things like this, and can confirm the following.
Only some of the ASU participate in the Twitter feed, so sometimes when it goes a little bit quiet for a shift or a day, it is because the staff on shift are either too busy, or don't currently participate in the updating of the feed.
The amazing pictures that sometimes appear, from scenic night shots of London, to fog shrouded images of the City, right down to the overheads of London's premier football stadiums. These are indeed snapped by the ASU guys up in the chopper. Usually while returning from jobs, and on their own mobile devices, or camera's, then uploaded to Twitter once back at Lippitts Hill. No tax payers money was wasted in the capturing of these images. So anyone feeling robbed or hard done by can put their minds to rest.
Since the Twitter feed of the ASU first started, I have loved the interactions with the staff at Lippitts, and am so happy to see the following of them has grown to somewhere in the region of 30k followers. The feed is a gear insight into the goings on of the unit, and answers those 2am questions of 'why is the helicopter over my house waking me up?' Usually once the matter is resolved a quick update will appear. Of course not EVERY job can be shared via Twitter. Some matters will relate to ongoing investigations and cases, so the information is still too sensitive to be given out.
I have to admit though, I would LOVE to see a full on '24 hours in the ASU feed' just as a one off, just to give people a true understanding of just how much work they can do in a day. Tony was telling us that in a 10 hour period, 6 of those can be spend airborne on jobs, which is a lot more than I imagined.
So @mpsinthesky if you are reading this, I offer my services to do a civilian view of '24 hours in the ASU' ;) (was worth a try eh!)
So next time you see the majestic EC145 hovering over an area near you, know this. There may be 3 crew on board, carrying out a multitude of tasks, none of which will be trivial. But there is also a controller back in the office at Lippitts Hill who is just as much a part of the unit as the guys in the skies. And not to forget the highly skilled engineers also back at Lippitts who schedule and carry out the works on the fleet of 3 EC145's that make up the Met Police ASU.
If they wake up up in the early hours, it is because a crime has been committed locally to you, and they are working towards catching the suspect, and in turn preventing YOU from being the next victim of a burglary, car theft, or street robbery. Have a question about the operation, throw them a tweet on @mpsinthesky .
Thank you once again to all the guys I met on Sunday up at Lippitts, and for sharing so much information with us all. And once again that offer, happy to do '24hours in the ASU' any time lol.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Lippitts Hill ASU Visit, POST visit
Well, what a morning/afternoon that was, certainly one to remember, and by all accounts to be remembered by too. I'm guessing here, clutching at straws a little, but something tells me I'm the 'over excited' one of the group that visited Lippitts Hill today. Nothing indicated this more than being told on my arrival that they had wagered that I would arrive first due to my build up. I just call it enthusiasm lol.
Anyway, once I was over the embarrassment of being identified as a little nerdy, it was onto business. The general introduction to the place was a surprise too. Lippitts Hill is in fact an ex POW camp from WW2, so a lot of the buildings, which are nothing more than wooden dorm room looking buildings, are listed, so no real changes can be made to the general layout of the place. As Tony, our guide for the day pointed out, the location is prime for development, but I for one am glad its staying as it is.
Surrounded by Epping Forest, the approach to Lippitts Hill itself is a beautiful drive, winding country lanes, lovely scenery, mountain bikers and horse riders line the lanes, and following the morning downpour, there are lots of kerbside rivers in flow. So you can imagine, its quite surprising when the hidden entrance to the ASU appears at the side of the road.
Hidden away from sight, the entrance is quite unassuming, but what lays beyond the gates is a tech nerds dream playground.
Once on site, we were greeted by the aforementioned Tony Donnelly of the ASU. Once all on site and briefed on the basics of the place it was off to the ASU Classroom for a presentation. Within the presentation were some very interesting facts. Things that made someone like myself realise how little they actually know about the unit and their work. I consider myself relatively well informed about some aspects of the ASU, but as the presentation went on, I started to feel like I knew nothing.
The depth of the information was actually quite surprising, and refreshingly interesting. Rather than being bombarded with PR info as some might imagine, everything explained was of interest and relevance. Deeper knowledge of how the on-board gear works, just how effective some of it is, and how un-used other bits like the night-sun are these days, with the advances of the infrared systems.
Bundles of footage was shown of all sorts of situations from stand-offs to chases coming to an end, with each clip focusing on a particular piece of equipment or aspect of it.
Then it was fun time, off to meet the Eurocopter 145's. A, B and C were all on site today. C on the pad ready to fly, A in the hanger staying warm, but ready to go if needed, and B in for a 'little' bit of work, as the picture will show. Allowing us to spend some time climbing all over the chopper was really cool, if that doesn't sound a little infantile. After a quick talk through about the Eurocopter, and pointing out the camera pod which also contains the very impressive FLIR unit too, as well as the night-sin, downlink unit and other external bits and pieces it was onto the insides.
Wowza! There is a lot of equipment in there, with various seating points in the helicopter having access to certain pieces. All the flying gear aside, which in itself is super complex looking, the observation post is a multitude of screens, buttons, controllers and even room for a keyboard. More spacious than you might imagine, although no luxury, the front observer/navigator and the rear observer and equipment operator are far from cramped up as some TV programs might give the impression of.
The rear post has a lot going on, and is the one usually focused on by most programs, and understandably so, with so much going on there, you can imagine that in the middle of a job there is a level of multi-tasking that most could only dream of being able to complete. With the units in the camera pod all being able to operate independently, there is a lot to control. There is also some very clever equipment in there though, with some pretty powerful software and hardware working together.
Ever wondered how i99 can tell ground operatives which address someone is in the backgarden of? Well the software enables the camera operator to see a building by building map of an area based on where EXACTLY the camera is pointed and locked at that time. And the opposite also applies. While airborne, the operator can enter a street address, and the camera will turn and zoom to that location, even if they are miles away at the time, it will remain pointing at the set location until they come into range of it.
Speaking of ranges, optical range is quite astounding if I'm honest, the zoom can get ultra close to things, when the helicopter itself is seemingly in another postcode. A demonstration of its zoom capabilities was given to us live whilst in the ops control room while C was out on a planned flight in central London. Flicking from one landmark to the next in what seemed like seconds, it makes you realise that there is very little that the ASU can't get to and see in very little time at all.
With flight times between 5-10 mins to all four corners of the M25, you would be stupid to think that the helicopter would take 'a while' to reach you if you were up to no good. Armed with a street to head for, the cameras will be trained on the criminal from i99's initial approach, and the unit will be in most parts of London in 5-6 mins if the unit is already airborne. The tech on board is enough to outsmart the best out there, and only pure luck will see you getting out of their noose.
Another thing that surprised me was the level of flexibility of the ASU, and the number of roles it is able to carry out, from simple surveillance to searching for missing persons. Right up to transporting other divisions of the Met Police from S019 to dog units, and even bomb squads and their equipment. Interestingly the largest role that it carries out is looking for missing and vulnerable persons. While the TV and media focus on the high speed, high octane roles, it is heartwarming to realise that there are other less dramatic and graphic jobs that it does, which instead of looking for a criminal, is looking for a victim of health or other circumstances. Just goes to show that the media like to go for the hard hitting stuff, and not the whole package. Another reason today was such a good opportunity to meet and appreciate a team which provide such a vital service to Greater London and now the Home Counties.
I could rattle on about today for a lot longer, and I currently feel like a 7yr old who has just come back from their first trip to Disneyland, and got to meet Micky and the cast. Not to compare the ASU guys to cartoon characters, although there were definitely some colourful characters and personalities on show today. But for now I will draw it all to a close, and pop some pictures up for all to enjoy.
So next time you see the ASU up at 2am, and it might have woken you from your slumber, appreciate it and respect the people inside it. They are keeping our city a safer place, as are all ASU's around the country. If you do from time to time look up and wonder what they are doing, follow @mpsinthesky on Twitter, and see their day to day jobs and operations. Who knows, you could even be one of the next lucky winners of their next competition, and you too could be paying the Lippitts Hill ASU a visit.
Thanks once again to Tony and the rest of the crew on today, for the education, humour and time given to us all today.
Regards
Michael
Sent via Blackberry®
PS More images of the day can be found here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87554664@N07/sets/72157632623648783/
Courtesy of WadeyLady
And also here.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/waterford_man/sets/72157632625097228/
Courtesy of Rich
Of course its not JUST the guys in the helicopter that make up the ASU.... Read more on the ground based staff here... http://michaelsnasdell.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-asu-is-not-just-about-pilots-and.html
My visit to the Met Police ASU
Known by many names, the Air Support Unit (ASU) of the Met Police serves a key role in the policing of London, from small incidents where a suspect has gone to ground, right up to large scale planned, and unplanned events. From Royal weddings to the London riots, without their efforts, London would be a far less safe place to be.
From growing up in London, I have always been familiar with seeing it up there in the skies, and always wondered about all the intricacies of it. What its like to have such a view of an event, is it scary, exciting.... So many questions. The interest from childhood til now has really not dwindled, and since the social revolution that is Twitter, my interest has in fact grown.
Many will be familiar with lines such as 'is i99 available', 'can we get the ASU in please' from the many many ride-along style police documentaries that get aired annually in the UK. Of course referring to the helicopter. But so little is ever shown of what these guys do. Quick snippets of inside the chopper, soundbites of transmissions from air to ground, but that was it. Sky Cops changed all that, and finally we the public got an education, and my childish dreams got a boost. WOW!
Well today, just over 2 weeks before my milestone 40th birthday, and thanks to Twitter (and Google for the answer) I will be popping along to Lippitts Hill over by Waltham Abbey, and visiting the home of the one and only @mpsinthesky . A late evening competition run by the guys over there has allowed a small group of people to visit this weekend, and see what the place and people are all about. What an early birthday present!
Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well last night, and am awake stupidly early (for me anyway) on a Sunday morning. And for once it wasn't because I had a helicopter over my house, or a bedroom illuminated by the night sun. Which brings me neatly to one major gripe I have about the ASU and their night operations.....
What is it with the public crying and whining about the ASU being over head. Yes you might get woken up, and you might have work in a few hours. But given the colourful characters the Met are usually trying to locate at that time, its better than being awoken by an aggravated burglary, or waking to find your car missing.
They are not looking for a kebab shop that's still open, or bored so just gone for a fly (how cool would that be), resulting in them 'hanging about' over your house. They are working, FOR US ALL.
Tssk, some people are never happy.
I was however happy to read the recent article on the ASU though, which explained how productive and helpful it has been having @mpsinthesky on Twitter, allowing residents to know why they were overhead, and maybe in some way making people realise its not all a big jolly, its a job, and a damned important one too.
So that's my PRE visit part of this entry. I shall do my POST visit blog, hopefully with loads of pictures when I get back.
I'm sure I'm not the only excited person this morning, so I look forwards to meeting the others later.
Regards
Michael
Sent via Blackberry®
From growing up in London, I have always been familiar with seeing it up there in the skies, and always wondered about all the intricacies of it. What its like to have such a view of an event, is it scary, exciting.... So many questions. The interest from childhood til now has really not dwindled, and since the social revolution that is Twitter, my interest has in fact grown.
Many will be familiar with lines such as 'is i99 available', 'can we get the ASU in please' from the many many ride-along style police documentaries that get aired annually in the UK. Of course referring to the helicopter. But so little is ever shown of what these guys do. Quick snippets of inside the chopper, soundbites of transmissions from air to ground, but that was it. Sky Cops changed all that, and finally we the public got an education, and my childish dreams got a boost. WOW!
Well today, just over 2 weeks before my milestone 40th birthday, and thanks to Twitter (and Google for the answer) I will be popping along to Lippitts Hill over by Waltham Abbey, and visiting the home of the one and only @mpsinthesky . A late evening competition run by the guys over there has allowed a small group of people to visit this weekend, and see what the place and people are all about. What an early birthday present!
Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well last night, and am awake stupidly early (for me anyway) on a Sunday morning. And for once it wasn't because I had a helicopter over my house, or a bedroom illuminated by the night sun. Which brings me neatly to one major gripe I have about the ASU and their night operations.....
What is it with the public crying and whining about the ASU being over head. Yes you might get woken up, and you might have work in a few hours. But given the colourful characters the Met are usually trying to locate at that time, its better than being awoken by an aggravated burglary, or waking to find your car missing.
They are not looking for a kebab shop that's still open, or bored so just gone for a fly (how cool would that be), resulting in them 'hanging about' over your house. They are working, FOR US ALL.
Tssk, some people are never happy.
I was however happy to read the recent article on the ASU though, which explained how productive and helpful it has been having @mpsinthesky on Twitter, allowing residents to know why they were overhead, and maybe in some way making people realise its not all a big jolly, its a job, and a damned important one too.
So that's my PRE visit part of this entry. I shall do my POST visit blog, hopefully with loads of pictures when I get back.
I'm sure I'm not the only excited person this morning, so I look forwards to meeting the others later.
Regards
Michael
Sent via Blackberry®
Monday, February 20, 2012
Man in Forest Hill, SE23 shot by CO19 officers
Well before I get started here is the link to the actual story.
http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16172991
The first thing that struck me were some of the pity filled responses and comments on the actual news story. Trying to make out that the Met Police have in some way done something wrong. What was reassuring though was the fact that there were many who also thought he deserved everything he got.
Lets look at the 'facts' we are presented with. A young man goes out onto the streets in the early morning with the intention of committing crime. He arms himself with a number of weapons in the form of bladed weapons. When he is caught in the act of breaking into a car he is challenged and the police are informed.
The police then attend the area, find the person involved and attempt to detain him. On doing so they are threatened with a large bladed weapon, so they call for CO19 (armed police) A period of time will have no doubt passed from the call going to CO19, to them arriving on the scene. At any point in this time the man could have stopped being threatening, and given himself up..... He chose not to.
On their arrival they will have run through some basic talk downs to diffuse the situation, he could have given up then.... He didn't! Then the taser was deployed. By this point its clear things are getting serious, and there are not many other options left. Regardless of if the taser was effective or not, this should have triggered a thought process in the persons head that soon they may get shot. For some reason it didn't!
At the end of the stand-off shots were eventually fired, and the man wounded and taken into custody. All I have heard all day is why didn't the police take limb shots, why didn't they do other things. Do none of the people saying this realise how dangerous the situation could have become? Some weird belief that the police went out with the intention to shoot this idiot.
I have personally seen a man carrying two axes down a busy road, called the police and waited on scene. 2 officers with no PPE on dealt with the situation, and took the dangerous guy down. So its obvious that they use their options, and don't take shooting people lightly.
So if you are one of the idiots saying the police were wrong, the police were heavy handed, the police could have just taken the guy down..... HUSH! put yourself in their position and see what options you would choose.
http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16172991
The first thing that struck me were some of the pity filled responses and comments on the actual news story. Trying to make out that the Met Police have in some way done something wrong. What was reassuring though was the fact that there were many who also thought he deserved everything he got.
Lets look at the 'facts' we are presented with. A young man goes out onto the streets in the early morning with the intention of committing crime. He arms himself with a number of weapons in the form of bladed weapons. When he is caught in the act of breaking into a car he is challenged and the police are informed.
The police then attend the area, find the person involved and attempt to detain him. On doing so they are threatened with a large bladed weapon, so they call for CO19 (armed police) A period of time will have no doubt passed from the call going to CO19, to them arriving on the scene. At any point in this time the man could have stopped being threatening, and given himself up..... He chose not to.
On their arrival they will have run through some basic talk downs to diffuse the situation, he could have given up then.... He didn't! Then the taser was deployed. By this point its clear things are getting serious, and there are not many other options left. Regardless of if the taser was effective or not, this should have triggered a thought process in the persons head that soon they may get shot. For some reason it didn't!
At the end of the stand-off shots were eventually fired, and the man wounded and taken into custody. All I have heard all day is why didn't the police take limb shots, why didn't they do other things. Do none of the people saying this realise how dangerous the situation could have become? Some weird belief that the police went out with the intention to shoot this idiot.
I have personally seen a man carrying two axes down a busy road, called the police and waited on scene. 2 officers with no PPE on dealt with the situation, and took the dangerous guy down. So its obvious that they use their options, and don't take shooting people lightly.
So if you are one of the idiots saying the police were wrong, the police were heavy handed, the police could have just taken the guy down..... HUSH! put yourself in their position and see what options you would choose.
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