The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mamunur Rashid

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will procure a Helicopter to give air-support to the city dwellers.

Source said, DMP authority has completed papers and sent to the Police Headquarters for bringing new helicopter. The HQ will send it to the Establishment Ministry for approval.

Police source said, if the Helicopter was added to the DMP police that would be latest chopper and all the gadgets that make it effective in fighting crime, assisting rescues, even dumping water on fires.

The goal is to educate local emergency service providers and police officials about the aviation unit so they can use it in their own law enforcement and rescue efforts.

"We want to get the message defused to all local rescue workers that this helicopter is available free of charge," source added.

"Police helicopters can cover an area in an hour that it would take 12 police cars to cover," source said.

The operating expense of running the new chopper is about Tk 20,000 per hour, not including personnel.

The DMP unit has been in increasingly high demand in recent years as more agencies learn about its capabilities. The new model is equipped with a forward-looking camera that provides night vision and can be downlinked to a remote video station.

It also does homeland security surveillance by making daily patrols over the city crime zone, drug traders, mugging, reservoirs, and railway and electrical lines.

"The helicopters are being used for a lot more things than we thought," police source added said. "