New WA Police plane to help stop pursuits

Sunday, 22 January 2017
 
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• New high-tech police plane will help officers end pursuits quickly and safely
• Plane can also be used in land and sea searches and targeting crime hotspots
• Plane equipped with infra-red, high-tech mapping, video transmitting and motion detection 

The Liberal National Government has equipped WA Police Air Wing with a new plane kitted out with a range of high-tech equipment to help in critical incidents including pursuits.

Deputy Premier and Police Minister Liza Harvey said an advanced mapping system allowed real time footage to be overlayed with relevant mapping data such as street names, assisting with accurately plotting offender and police movements.

"Information of police vehicle locations is transmitted to the aircraft and overlayed on the mapping system, which greatly increases the co-ordination of strategies to help end the pursuit quickly and safely," Ms Harvey said.

The Deputy Premier said the plane was also decked out with infra-red and motion detection to help detect vehicles, offenders and missing people.

"The motion detection system identifies objects which may not be visible to the naked eye.  It is particularly suited for search and rescue operations but can also be used to identify offenders evading police," she said.

The plane is also equipped with the latest video equipment which allows an incident to be recorded, overlayed with the mapping data and sent back to the Police Operations Centre in real time, ensuring timely and accurate risk assessments and decisions can be made.

"This new addition to police resources will increase safety to the community and police by providing greater control and oversight of pursuit incidents, leading to the implementation of a safe strategy to end the pursuit and apprehend the offender," Ms Harvey said.

"The Liberal National Government is committed to making communities safer through tough laws and providing police with the resources they need to combat crime and anti-social behaviour."

Fact File

• The GA8 Airvan has been fully operational since October 2016 and has completed a total of 363 tasks resulting in the successful apprehension of 102 offenders (primarily for volume crime offences) and assisted with the management of 29 pursuit-related incidents
• The cost of the plane and equipment was $3.2 million