British Transport Police is taking control of 23 helicopters (plus three spares) to provide a new National Police Air Service.
This replaces the 33 machines presently owned by individual county forces and the Met.
Civil police wanting to deploy a helicopter will now have to ask nicely, instead of just splashing out £2000 an hour whenever they fancy.
G-NTWK, Network Rail's own very lovely Eurocopter AS355 is not included in the scheme, despite bearing a very Police like black and yellow livery.
The move puts an extra £51 million into the BTP annual budget – not to be sniffed at – but one hopes that BTP Public Affairs will be ready to assume ownership of the ever-rising number of complaints about helicopter noise, many of which are generated by police air operations. Between them, Plod and the air ambulance account for 60% of London helicopter traffic.
Previous BTP adventures in the air have not gone smoothly - a 2008 flirtation with miniature drone helicopters that "squirted" offenders with smart water was outlawed by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The chopper fleet gives the only national civil police force an interesting new line in Big Toys, sorry, an enhanced logistical capability.
Perhaps compensating for the loss of the erstwhile and much loved Cross Country Plod-Duff.
UPDATE: This from a Mr McAree...
Eye says: "The chopper fleet gives the only national civil police force an interesting new line in Big Toys, sorry, an enhanced logistical capability."
Sorry to be pedantic but there is another national civil police force out there. The Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
UPDATE: This from Our International Correspondent...
Civil Nuclear Constabulary – the Polonium Plod - may be every conspiracy theorist’s favourite spooky arm of the state, and there are 1000 of them costing £56 million a year, but even they do not claim, anywhere, to be a national civil force.
UPDATE: From a Mr Philip Sutton (former proprietor of Rail Express)
Forget the Cross Country 'Duff'...
Don't you remember this gem?
Good luck to my old press mates on Railway Magazine.