Cost of police Eagle helicopters rises as use increases

Eagle helicopters are costing thousands per hour to use.

By RNZ

Police use of the Eagle helicopters is increasing, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $2000 an hour.

Data supplied to RNZ by police shows its Eagle helicopter unit attended on average 16 more incidents a day for the 2018-19 financial year, at a cost of $2313 an hour.

The police Air Support Unit ran three Auckland-based helicopters for that period, which cost about $7.6 million.

It was contracted to fly 3300 hours, which is nine hours of flying each day.

In response to an Official Information request, the police said the unit attended 6053 jobs during the year, and half were for road policing and road safety.

Speaking about the helicopters in February, then-police commissioner Mike Bush said: "It is clear that air support offers benefits to our frontline policing by providing aerial surveillance and monitoring from a safe distance and with a wider picture - enabling an efficient response and resolution."

A five-week trial of one of the Auckland-based Eagle helicopters in Christchurch ended on March 20 and received almost 80 noise complaints.

During the trial, the helicopter was sent to 305 jobs and was involved in catching 210 people, police said.

"It's been a good tool to assist with our frontline teams working to halt offenders in their tracks," Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said.

Police said they did not collect data showing the age or ethnicity of people arrested after the Eagle unit was used.