John MacDonald: The Eagle has landed in Chch and should stay

The eagle has landed. One of the police Eagle helicopters from Auckland is in Christchurch for the next two months as part of a crackdown on these criminal kids doing-over dairies and committing other crimes. 

I think it’s brilliant that it’s here and I think we need one here permanently.  

For several reasons: Christchurch is New Zealand’s second-largest city; we have a level of criminal activity here to justify it; and it’s not as if a police helicopter hasn’t been put to good use here before. 

In 2020, it was in Christchurch for a five-week trial, and it was also used a few times earlier than that after the mosque attacks and when Prince William visited. 

During the trial in 2020, the helicopter was sent to 346 incidents ranging from a water rescue, a robbery attempt, and helping a man thought to be having a heart attack in a park. 

There was a bit of chat at the time about people being woken up at night by the sounds of it flying around. But an informal survey of residents found that only 24% of people thought the sound or noise from the helicopter was annoying. 60% said it didn’t bother them and 16% said they hadn’t noticed it. 

The police themselves gave it a very positive review. One officer wrote to the Police News magazine saying every officer who had worked with the helicopter had found it beneficial in helping to prevent crime, catch offenders, and increase safety. 

But despite Canterbury police themselves giving positive feedback on the trial, the powers-that-be decided it wouldn’t be made permanent. Which some people would have been happy about, because there were some who hated the helicopter being here and weren’t excited about the idea of us getting on here permanently. 

National MP Gerry Brownlee was dead against it. I remember him saying that plenty of people had told him that they hated the noise. They also found it traumatising hearing it, because it took them back to the days after the earthquakes. 

I get that. Nevertheless, I’ve always been in no doubt that we would benefit from having a permanent helicopter here. Which National kind-of talked about prior to the last election. 

The party’s Christchurch central candidate was at a street corner meeting, and someone asked him what National was going to do about youth crime and whether it had plans for a police helicopter in Christchurch. 

According to someone who was there, he said that Christopher Luxon had given it the nod but there wouldn’t be any announcement before the election. 

That was it. Nothing more since.  

But we know the cops love it. Most residents seem to like it. And my pick would be that support for us having a dedicated police helicopter would be much higher now than when the trial happened in 2020. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk z'bod morning.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
We are with you till mid day. One out from
now Labour's Reuben Davidson and Nationals Vinessa Winneck will be
with us for politics right No, that's straight after ten
and as always we'll finish the morning with Mike Yardley's
Heads and Messes of the week. It's another I mean,
look at that, another starting day, perfect for what looks
like will be the final day of the cricket Test
at Hagle the Oval Black Camps versus the West Indies.
I see the Mix Service though, is giving us their

(00:35):
heads up this morning that the weather's going to be
all over the show for the next couple of weeks.
So let's make the most of today, which is probably
a good approach whenever the weather's doing, don't you think. Meanwhile,
at eight past nine, the Eagle has landed or is
landing sometime today. One of the Police Eagle helicopters from
Auckland has been brought to christ Church and it's going

(00:58):
to be here for the next two months. And why's that?
Do you reckon? Well, as Claire has been reporting this morning.
The police are doing it as part of operation to
crack down on these criminal kids doing over the dairies
and committing other crimes. And I think it is brilliant
that it's here, and I think that we need one
here permanently for several reasons. One simple christ Church is

(01:21):
New Zealand's second largest city. Two, we have a level
of criminal activity here to justify it. And three it's
not as if a police helicopter hasn't been put to
good use here before. The Eagle is no stranger to
christ Church. You remember in twenty twenty it was here
from Auckland for a five week trial, and it was

(01:43):
also used a few times earlier than that, after the
Moss attacks and also when Prince William visited christ Church.
I've got some stats for you from that trial. In
twenty twenty, the helicopter was sent to three hundred and
forty six incidents, ranging from a water rescue, a robbery
attempt and helping a man thought to be having a

(02:04):
heart attack and a park. There was a bit of
chad at the time about people being woken up at
night by the sound of it flying around, But I
tell you what an informal survey of residence after that
trial found that only twenty four percent of people thought
the sound or the noise from the helicopter was annoying,
sixty percent said it didn't bother them at all, and

(02:25):
sixteen percent said, oh what helicopter and the police themselves
gave it a very positive review. One officer, in fact,
wrote to the Police News magazine saying that every officer
who had worked with the helicopter had found it beneficial
in relation to preventing crime, catching crims, and increasing safety.

(02:46):
But despite the canterby police themselves giving positive feedback, when
that trial was done five years ago, the powers that
be decided it wouldn't be made permanent, which some people
would have been happy about, because there were some who
hated the helicopter being here and weren't excited about the
idea of us getting one permanently. A national MPG, Jerry Brownlee,

(03:07):
he was someone who was dead against the idea. I
remember him saying that plenty of people had told him
that they had the noise, but they also found it
traumatizing hearing it because it took them right back to
the days after the earthquakes. And I get that Nevertheless,
I've always been in no doubt that we would benefit

(03:27):
from having a permanent helicopter. Hear which National kind of
talked about prior to the last election. Remember that you
might remember hearing about the party's christ Church central candidate
being at a street corner meeting and someone asking him
what National was going to do about youth crime, and
they asked him if there were any plans for a
police helicopter in christ Church, And according to someone who
was there who contacted me afterwards, he said that christoph

(03:52):
election Luxeon had given it the nod, but there would
be no announcement before the election. That was it. That
was it, nothing more. But we know that cops love it,
we know that most residents seem to like it. And
my pick would be that there would be even more
support for us having a dedicated police helicopter than there

(04:13):
was after the trial in twenty two.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
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