NPAS carry out a variety of tasks for police forces such as searching for high risk missing people/concern for welfare/injured people, searching for suspects, managing vehicle pursuits from the air and assisting with counter terrorism/specialist firearms operations. In time critical searches such as that of a high risk missing person or child, the time saved in locating them can literally mean the difference between life and death.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) Operations Centre operates 24 hours a day, year-round and manages requests for air support from all police forces and other agencies across England and Wales. Find out more about how air support is deployed

Some of the training process will be document based and some will be more practical. We’re making use of designated low-risk flying areas to partake in training to ensure minimum risk to others. Very detailed training will be offered for this role to ensure you meet the high standards we expect to hold the role. We do this to make sure you’re certain of knowing what you’re doing!

We’ve introduced NPAS to aid frontline Police Officers in multiple ways. From missing person searches to vehicle pursuits, NPAS offers a wide variety of purposes. A view from the air can often be much more useful than having officers walk or drive around! Statistically, calls where NPAS have assisted are more often dealt with quickly.

Recently, NPAS are available to assist with crime scene photography, getting aerial shots of major incidents or crime scenes and evidencing them with our CID colleagues for further investigation. Please utilise us - they are a great tool to use! Even our Pursuit investigation colleagues are now joining us in NPAS for evidence gathering!

Drone Unit

Drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are aircraft controlled by a remote operator. They usually have VTOL capabilities and various cameras/sensors onboard to assist with navigation, take photos or provide information from its unique, maneuverable vantage point.

Within Flight Ops, drones will be used to allow NPAS officers to provide support to other divisions without the need for a second officer or the
hassle/expense of deploying a full sized helicopter.

What can you get upto as Drone Unit?

• Missing Persons
• Foot Pursuits
• Property Surveillance
• Area Searches
• Welfare Checks in
  dangerous situations
• Obtaining aerial footage for planned operations
• Assisting all divisions where the drone would be advantageous