Four helicopters will join the Beijing police next year to
improve its airborne law enforcement capability and to assist
ensure a safe 2008 Olympic Games, a top security official said
yesterday in Beijing.
The helicopters will be used in a range of duties including
search and rescue, traffic control, and aerial photography, Tao
Junsheng, deputy director of the finance and equipment bureau of
the Ministry of Public Security said at the 2006 China
International Exhibition on Police Equipment.
A helicopter is capable of monitoring an area 15 times larger
than can be covered by police on the ground and in areas where
they’ll be deployed it’s anticipated street crimes will be reduced
by 50 percent, he said.
The four helicopters will be supplied by AgustaWestland (Agusta)
a leading helicopter design and manufacturer based in Italy and
Britain.
Contracts will be signed soon between the Beijing Public
Security Bureau and AgustaWestland, said Agusta Asia sales director
Fulvio Maurogiovanni.
And to demonstrate that the company wishes to be part of the
Olympic Games they’ve agreed to supply one of the four helicopters
free of charge, Maurogiovanni said.
The first helicopter will be delivered to the Beijing police
next April and the others will arrive by the end October the same
year, according to Agusta.
(China Daily May 25, 2006)