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Regina’s police plane has only been in operation since the end of January, but the service says it’s a valuable addition.
“This unit has had a tremendous impact for our frontline members to date. Shortly after the unit started, one of our watch commanders referred to the air support unit as a game-changer in his log,” Regina Police Service Deputy Chief Dean Rae said as part of a presentation to Regina’s executive committee Wednesday.
“The air support unit was up and in one of those calls, the watch commander was amazed at the work it did and how it made for a safe apprehension of the individuals involved.”
Rae says the unit makes sure that members get real-time information and makes them safer, and makes their work effective and more efficient.
In fact, Rae said the plane has a 100 per cent apprehension rate when it’s called for service.
Cpl. Steve Wyatt is one of the pilots with the unit and he did part of the presentation to the committee along with one of the tactical officers, Const. Corrie Neufeld.
They showed videos taken from the plane and explained how the plane helped in those scenarios, including impaired driving, domestic assault, weapons offences, high-speed chases and vulnerable or missing persons.
The plane isn’t in the air 24/7 because there are only two crews, but when they are working, the plane is in the air for seven or eight hours at a time, according to Wyatt. It flies about 2,600 feet above the ground in Regina, 4,500 feet above sea level.
“At that altitude, we can manoeuvre quickly into place and get eyes on a crime scene, or a fleeing subject or a missing person quite quickly,” Wyatt said.
It has an infrared camera that can help find suspects on the ground or even whether a vehicle has been driven recently, though it can’t see through walls or windows or when the plane is in the clouds.
Wyatt said the plane goes to many crimes in progress in an effort to get eyes on the scene as quickly as possible. He talked about a call where a person had dialed 911 after someone smashed their windows and the person on the phone had said there were two or three people, but when the plane got there, it found there were more like 23 people.
“And so instead of sending one or two patrol cars like we would normally do, we need to send a lot more because there’s an excess of two dozen people actually involved,” said Wyatt.
The plane also helps with officer safety. It helps reduce the need for a high-speed chase by being able to follow a vehicle from the air or scanning the area for danger when officers are in a foot chase on the ground, which he said can be inherently dangerous.
“We try to mitigate some of that risk by following a foot chase, giving real-time information — addresses, locations — and so that person in the foot chase on the ground can focus on the task at hand, not worrying about ‘What street am I on or what yard am I in?’ ” said Wyatt.
He said other officers have given a lot of positive feedback on the plane.
“Just knowing when that dog hound’s tracking through a pitch black alley in the middle of the night, we’re three yards ahead so there’s no one behind that garage. And giving that peace of mind certainly, I think, brings them down a little bit and lets them focus on their job,” said Wyatt.
He said it has helped reduce police use of force with dogs because the plane can see where a suspect might be and can tell the officers on the ground.
From when the unit started operations at the end of January to Wednesday, the unit has responded to almost 900 calls, assisted in 180 arrests, recovered 17 stolen vehicles, and saved more than 100 trips for a cancelled ground unit. The calls the plan has responded to have resulted in 373 charges.
After the presentation to executive committee, the city councillors in attendance were extremely complimentary of the plane and the work police have been doing.
“This is one of the best decisions that we made, I would say, for the police service and for the residents of Regina,” said Coun. Lori Bresciani.
