Lid lifted on police £4.5m eye in the sky

The team behind West Midlands Police's £4.5 million helicopter have been lifting the lid on its operations.

The new aircraft, which came into service in August last year, has already attended almost 4,000 call-outs.

And the unit that runs it has now launched its own feed on social network site Twitter in a bid to give followers up to the minute updates on the helicopter's work and see the policing operations it is involved with.

The page already has more than 1,000 followers and has received positive feedback from the general public.

The helicopter, which reaches speeds of 160mph uses specialist thermal imaging technology to conduct searches, which are so accurate it can detect devices as small as mobile telephones.

Since its operation it has already helped in the recovery of £1m worth of property. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said it allows the staff of a civilian pilot and two officers to conduct searches of areas in minutes.

Head of operations Sgt Dave Mitchell said: "This is one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. The things it can do are quite incredible. We can find a mobile phone which someone has dropped on the ground from way up in the sky."

One of the helicopter's crew is 38-year-old Pc Matt Holder, from Tamworth. He said: "It's just like being in a patrol car. You just have a better view."

Since August the helicopter has attended 3,923 incidents in 1,592 flights. It has been responsible for 218 direct arrests and has assisted in 161 arrests and located 22 missing people and 62 vehicles.

Recent activity highlighted on the Twitter site included details of a laser pen pointed at the aircraft as it responded to a report of a stolen vehicle at 3am on Wednesday.

The beam was traced to a house in Langley in Sandwell and a 17-year-old was arrested. To view the Twitter feed log on to www.twitter.com/WMP_Helicopter.

By Lisa Wright and Andrew McGill