Police Belle-407GXi already in Poland

It is not only marked and unmarked police cars, motorcycles, laser speed meters or drones that help and will help Polish policemen in revealing irregular behavior of drivers. Now also new Bell-407GXi helicopters, purchased under an EU project, will serve to increase safety on Polish roads. Both during the day and at night, thanks to special equipment with: Aerial Observation System with a special optoelectronic head, image recording and transmission system, and controlled dazzle reflector, police aviators together with traffic officers will monitor from the air the situation on the roads and respond to dangerous behavior of traffic participants.

The conference summarizing the project "Safer on the Roads - Aerial Traffic Surveillance", which is co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund under the Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020, was attended by representatives of the National Police Headquarters and provincial police commands, including: Director of the KGP Finance Office. Małgorzata Świderska together with her deputy Małgorzata Kubicka, Director of the Bureau of Police Logistics of the KGP insp. Mariusz Żurawski, Deputy Director of the Main Police Staff of the KGP supt. Jakub Mierzejewski, Deputy Director of the Traffic Bureau of the KGP insp. Robert Koźlak and Head of the Police Aviation Board of the GSP KGP insp. pil. Robert Sitek.

Also present among the guests were the Director of the Infrastructure Programs Department of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy Jaroslaw Orlinski with his deputy Katarzyna Zielinska-Heitkötter, Agnieszka Szymanska - Director of the Road Projects Department of the Center for EU Transport Projects with representatives of CUPT, JB Investments CEO Jan Borowski with board members: Magdalena Karska and Stanislaw Borowski, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration.

In turn, Agnieszka Szymanska, Director of the Road Projects Department of the Center for EU Transport Projects, said: - This was a very difficult undertaking, because the contracts for funding and support for this project were signed only in March, with implementation and financial settlement by the end of this year. A project for a very large amount: the total value of the project almost 170 million PLN, and 144 million is the EU contribution. The Polish Police has something to be proud of. I hope that thanks to such equipment, road safety will improve significantly.

During the first thematic block of the conference, the head of the Police Aviation Board of the GSP KGP, Insp. Pil. Robert Sitek, reminded participants of the history of the police aviation formation, also presented the machines currently in operation and the tasks carried out thanks to them, the current organization of the service and the deployment of machines in the country. He also presented the plans and challenges facing police aviation in the near future.

To date, two Belle-407GXi have been stationed in Warsaw, and one in Poznan. Now helicopters of this type will also be operated in Szczecin, Wroclaw, Lodz and Krakow. The helicopters purchased under the project are equipped with an additional fuel tank, which will allow aviators to cover about 700 km, thus significantly increasing their area of operation, and moreover, during the execution of, for example, patrol tasks, it will allow the machine to remain in the air for even more than 3.5 hours," the chief said. He also stressed that the new Bell-407GXi helicopters, together with the machines purchased over the past four years , constitute one of the most modern aviation fleets not only in the country, but also in Europe. Thanks to them, police aviators, together with traffic policemen, will increase the effectiveness of the Police's road safety activities.

The moderator of the second part of the panel was Robert Skibiński, head of the Aid Acquisition Section of the KGP Finance Bureau, who discussed the just-completed project, which involved 4 tasks: the purchase of 4 Bell-407GXi helicopters with an Aerial Observation System, a series of training courses for flying and ground personnel, promotion and management of the project. He then invited those who worked on the project, namely JB Investments board member Stanislaw Borowski, the pilot overseeing the aviation training system, and police officers from the capital's traffic department, to join the discussion.

Stanislaw Borowski stressed that although his team was operating under time pressure, at every stage the company was anxious to ensure that the implementation of this non-standard project was carried out in a fully professional manner, and that the equipment could be prepared in accordance with the customer's requirements. - An additional and also extremely important challenge was certainly to provide the operators of the Aerial Observation System with an ergonomic workstation that was easy to operate, regardless of whether it was operated by an operator with experience from the first three Belles purchased by the Polish Police or not. (...) Interestingly, about 130 Belles are currently being used by police forces around the world. The largest user is the US police (about 30 machines of this type) and the Colombian police (7). The Polish Police, now having 7 such machines, will be able to equal the number of these helicopters to the American state of Texas," the company representative added.

- A helicopter with an SOL system is also very suitable for operations involving illegal racing. Equipped with a camera with thermal imaging and a video recording and transmission system, it allows the commander to effectively direct the action or operation by monitoring the situation in real time from the helicopter's perspective. More than once we have witnessed that the driver, when he first heard us and then saw us, decisively slowed down and continued driving according to the rules. Such a preventive effect cannot be achieved by a drone or a marked police car. For certain tasks, the helicopter is irreplaceable," added Sub-Comm. Mariusz Rydz, an expert of the same section.

Aviators assess that the Bell-407GXi is a very friendly machine. - It is very maneuverable, powerful, complex, but importantly, the complexity of its design does not translate into a multitude of activities that the pilot must perform in the cabin. Users greatly appreciate the uploaded modern databases of airports in Poland. The autopilot is also sometimes helpful, as it allows to relieve the burden on the one-person crew that performs the flight on this helicopter. Compared to other machines we have used before, the comfort of the SOL operator's position has also improved. Many years of joint experience with traffic policemen allow us to coordinate operations in such a way as to increase safety on the roads," said the head of police aviation training.

At the end of the conference, participants had the opportunity to see the modern fleet of Police Aviation, including the new Bell-407GXi helicopters in the hangar of the Police Aviation Board of the Main Police Staff of the KGP at the Warsaw-Babice airport.

- This project was a big challenge for us. However, we are not afraid of difficult topics. The implementation of the project proves that with good cooperation between the ordering party, i.e. the Police Headquarters, and the contractor JB Investments, nothing is really impossible. I would like to thank all those involved in this project for their great determination, incredible commitment, great professionalism, hard work, but also great communication. Mr. Commander, you can be very proud of such a team, congratulations," JB Investments board member Magdalena Karska addressed Deputy Police Chief Superintendent Roman Kuster . - We are also proud of our team. Our technical team from our sister company Aero Club put in a lot of work in the final phase of the project. Day and night, including weekends, they worked to finish the helicopters on time. I am very pleased, on behalf of the company, to hand over the keys to these magnificent machines with special equipment for the Polish Police mission, believing that they will contribute to improving safety on Polish roads," she added.

The commandant also added that the implementation of this project was possible thanks to the close cooperation of the KGP Finance Office, the Police Logistics Office and the Police General Staff with the Center for EU Transport Projects and the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. - I would also like to thank Mr. Jan Borowski, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JB Investments, who is present with us today, and your entire team for working so quickly and professionally. On behalf of the leadership of the Polish Police, but also the pilots gathered here, I would like to thank all those involved in the project, the implementation of which, thanks to EU funds, is a great support for road safety. Now I would like to hand over the keys to the helicopters to the head of the Police Aviation Board of the Main Police Staff of the National Police Headquarters, Insp. Robert Sitek. I am proud of the project that has just been completed, and I am sure that the aviators who will use these machines are also proud," added Superintendent Roman Kuster.

Once the registration process is complete, the machines will be available for use by police officers in the line of duty. In total, the aviation of the Polish Police will expand its potential to 7 such modern light multi-purpose helicopters, which will enable traffic surveillance anywhere in the country.

The new helicopters will be used for, among other things:

• monitoring and supervising traffic on the country's main routes and the borders of large urban areas;
• to uncover and coordinate activities related to illegal racing and manifestations of "road piracy."
• Preparation of video documentation from sites of disasters, traffic accidents and other incidents;
• conducting and coordinating pursuit of perpetrators of traffic accidents and other criminal offenses.

To date, Police Aviation has used such helicopters not only for patrol and surveillance operations, but also for securing mass events, searching for missing persons, chasing criminals or transporting organs. Aerial operations were carried out both during the day and at night, including with the use of NVG night vision goggles. 

Text: young inspector Anna Kędzierzawska
Photo: Krzysztof Chrzanowski, BKS KGP