Top-notch cars to help gardai chase down criminals

sparrowcar

what about this one

Wertz

yayamark wrote: »

The Gardai have 2 helicopters and one spotter plane actually.

Ah, I don't keep up with the affairs of the GS. There was only one last time I saw anything on TV about it.
Spotter planes are all well and good but 'copters are obviously a lot more flexible.
Two (or three) choppers is a bit more like it but still falls short of the mark IMO....I know they are expensive to obtain and maintain but they'd pay for themselves if utilised correctly; ie not being used for crowd observation at GAA matches.
There are criminals pouring out of Irish cities every night of the week "on the rob"....many of our smaller rural towns barely even have a garda presence at night and where they do, the couple of spread thin cars are often inadequate to the task in hand. 'Copters and thermal/nightvision would wipe the floor with these scumbags, by covering a much wider area, faster and in turn allow the use of squad cars to be a bit more coordinated than it apprently is at present.
Or maybe I've been watching too much Road Wars....either way, blowing public money on feckin' beemers isn't going to do a damn thing to cut crime and can only be seen as showboating IMO...

Masada

yet nobody mentioned the fact that the chopper can only stay up in the air for around 40mins before it has to head off for refueling., kinda pointless huh., maybe they had a few more places for it to land for fuel it would help, as it is the chopper comes from balldonnell and thats miles away from where it seems to hover ever night, (above my house near croker as someone mentioned.,lol)

a few decent cars would go a long way though, I was over at the ossory road when the gaurd was shot a few months ago and there were cars that you would never have imagined pulling up with groups of cops in them, a few volvos, a bmw, about a million mondeos, 2 punto's, a few vans etc etc.,

Silvera

I reckon it's about time the gardai started getting more suitable cars. Volvo S60's and the like should be almost 'standard issue' in this day and age for police work.

Re: The helicopters ....I believe the new EC-135 is going to replace the Squirrel, so it will be 2 x helis and 1 x plane. (The original plan back in the late 80's/early 90's - believe it or not - was to have a fleet of 12 garda helicopters!!)

Wertz

Silvera wrote: »

(The original plan back in the late 80's/early 90's - believe it or not - was to have a fleet of 12 garda helicopters!!)

Kind of ironic that those sort of plans were being made when we hadn't a pot to piss in, but in the intervening years of boom, we end up with only a quarter f that figure :rolleyes:

Interesting point on refueling vtec, wasn't aware the time was that short. Helipads aren't like runways....I mean you can land the damn things in a car park. Maybe an additional investment in a mobile tanker would be an astute move....I'm sure they could get one from customs and excise with the amount they seize round the border.
I still ahve problems with prestige marques being used as squad cars....for traffic corp obviously fast cars make more sense but for normal patrol cars, practical models make more financial sense IMO. Puntos though? lol

Masada

Wertz wrote: »

I still ahve problems with prestige marques being used as squad cars....for traffic corp obviously fast cars make more sense but for normal patrol cars, practical models make more financial sense IMO. Puntos though? lol

you woudnt believe some of the cop cars ive seen.,lol, I once saw a chase go past me on amien street and one of the garda cars was a honda integra.,
as for using practical cars for the normal patrol cars, Id say its those that need the higher powered cars the most to be honest, there the ones that are first in the pursuits and the ones that respond to most calls etc.,
I remember one such incident where there had been an armed robbery and a big chase around the inner city followed, there were gangs of ERU cars and 4x4s aswell as detectives etc chasing this honda civic and in the end it was one of those clapped out marked mondeos that rammed it (be it into another motorist though) down on one of the off streets near the IFSC.,

Wertz

You kind of make my point for me though; do we really want the cops to be ramming (or getting rammed by) armed robbers in shiny new German hardware with a fluorescnet stripe down the side?
Also see my earlier point about Dublin traffic where speed isn't really an issue when we're all doing 20kmph for the most part. A squad of motorbikes and the cops to ride them would be of more benefit (although obviously you'll not be doing much ramming on a bike).
I still think furnishing the city out with bee emms is an excersise in flaunting our wealth, but I seem to be in the minority.

S.I.R

i see the gardi everyday , but then again i see the guys who they chase everyday.

its great giving them top-notch cars but when you can't handle a 190 hp audi what chance do you have against a rx-7 or a bently gt

Victor

vtec wrote: »

you woudnt believe some of the cop cars ive seen.,lol, I once saw a chase go past me on amien street and one of the garda cars was a honda integra.,

Such cars aren't expected, making them useful.

I remember one such incident where there had been an armed robbery and a big chase around the inner city followed, there were gangs of ERU cars and 4x4s aswell as detectives etc chasing this honda civic and in the end it was one of those clapped out marked mondeos that rammed it (be it into another motorist though) down on one of the off streets near the IFSC.,

Well, they weren't going to use a new car, were they?

Rowley Birkin QC

Maybe they should get some of these

jimmycrackcorm

vtec wrote: »

yet nobody mentioned the fact that the chopper can only stay up in the air for around 40mins before it has to head off for refueling., kinda pointless huh., maybe they had a few more places for it to land for fuel it would help, as it is the chopper comes from balldonnell and thats miles away from where it seems to hover ever night, (above my house near croker as someone mentioned.,lol)
.,

The AS355N has a range of over 3 hours and 600km. Plenty of time to chase baddies.

S.I.R

bigkev49 wrote: »

Maybe they should get some of these

like the police need a hummer :rolleyes:

Masada

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The AS355N has a range of over 3 hours and 600km. Plenty of time to chase baddies.

the cops themselves have said that they can only get around 40min use at a time., it was part of there arguement for wanting another one.,