Noisy helicopters during the night!

[Lizziedjango]

Dig me having a moan again! If it's not foxes it's bloody, noisy helicopters. I have been kept awake often due to the latter, and even though I squeezed my earplugs in tightly into my ears last night, the noise from above was still extremely loud. I didn't manage to sleep 'til past midnight.

Does anyone know what this is all about? Are they police helicopters?

[cspencer77]

They are police helicopters and they are looking for extreme heat sources from houses - as there has been an increase in the number of cannibis farms in rented houses.

[Lizziedjango]

Are you serious?!!

[Siduhe]

Lizziedjango Wrote:

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> Are you serious?!!

Absolutely.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/homegrown-cannabis-is-a-booming-business-439966.html

[Moos]

Aren't we supposed to be supporting local businesses, rather than buying imported goods with a higher carbon footprint?

But disappointed by the news - I believed the helicopters to be chasing desprit criminals through the streets like on telly.

[Lizziedjango]

LOL Moos!

[Loz]

They are police helicopters and they are looking for extreme heat sources from houses - as there has been an increase in the number of cannibis farms in rented houses.

Not always foolproof, it has to be said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

[KidKruger]

FYI - A couple of years ago a house on the corner of Crystal Palace Rd and Sylvester Rd caught fire and when the fire services had extinguished the fire they realised it was a cannabis farm and the power had come from jumping the electricity meter. I think the property had been rented by Chinese/Vietnamese folks.

(please PM me if you wish to accuse me of being racist, non-PC or a member of the KKK for making the distinction, so we don't distract the thread !)

[lard]

Moos Wrote:

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> Aren't we supposed to be supporting local

> businesses, rather than buying imported goods with

> a higher carbon footprint?

>

> But disappointed by the news - I believed the

> helicopters to be chasing desprit criminals

> through the streets like on telly.

:))

They'll be giving out hemp recycled bags with every eighth next in order to advertise their homegrown non gm, organic local fayre.

[ianr]

cspencer77 Wrote:

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> They are police helicopters and they are looking

> for extreme heat sources from houses

How do you know? They do have other activities. Do you have inside information, did you see it/them doing a linear search pattern, ...?

[Lizziedjango]

I was wondering that too ianr!

[jctg]

If this is true (which I can't believe for a minute it is) then aren't loads of old dears' front doors going to be kicked in every night by the drugs squad cuz they'll have the heating on full blast?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

No, the old dears can't afford it. Unless it's now a crime to wear two pairs of Damarts and three sweaters.

[ratty]

I meet with the old bill v often and can tell you that they do not have th emoney for this!

[Huggers]

My friend Julie who lives opposite Rusking Park says a large (RAF?)rescue helicopter landed in the middle of said park in the night with a patient for Kings Hospital and that it was much noisier than your normal helicopters- making a huge racket warming up to take off again. Could it have been this one?

[ruffers]

Are they black helicopters?

[Huggers]

yellow with an RAF circle on it.

[EDmummy]

I remember hearing the air ambulance when it landed in the Darrell Road Community Centre play ground (shooting of old boy who ran the post office that used to be on Crystal Palace Road - he survived but they closed the shop). It was incredibly noisy, far noisier than the police helicopter I think.

[HonaloochieB]

If the patient was Vietnamese/Chinese and suffering from severe burns then we could be onto something.

[cspencer77]

My friend is a copper in Leeds and they use them - she said it was likely to be looking for heat sensors if they hover over head for ages - if they were flying to hospital why would they keen hovering?

Also my flat mates uncle rented a house out - and found out via the police and a heat sensor helicopter that it was being used to grow cannabis plants - millions of them - in the attic, and all the bedrooms - downstairs looked totally normal - upstairs massive cannabis farm.

I am not saying that is what these helicopters are - it was just what i had been told.

[Burbage]

I'm not sure about the economics, but it might be cheaper to hang a helicopter over three boroughs at once and pretend it's a patrol than it would be to divert human resources to sit in cars. After all, there's no point in a visible police presence when nobody's awake enough to notice. By using helicopters, Plod can supply the requisite watchful eyes and audible reassurance while freeing up valuable human resources for core functions, such as fobbing off callers, perforating citizens and assisting employment lawyers. In addition, helicopters, though noisy, are much less likely to mow down children in the street, which is arguably a good thing.

As for air ambulances, CAA regulations are strict enough to make it very difficult for them to fly at night. Even those with the necessary special equipment inside still need to have appropriately equipped and staffed landing places. So the majority of them, including the London air ambulance, are a bit pointless after dark. Police helicopters, like police cars and firearms officers, are exempt from all known regulations, and therefore can do whatever they like, provided it doesn't involve landing or saving lives. RAF helicopters can also fly at night, but only do so when the national interest requires them to ferry a toff to a party. Unfortunately I cannot speculate on the Ruskin Park incident as the loftier salons of Denmark Hill are still closed to me, but should the Southwark News ever stretch to a gossip column I'm sure the truth would out.

[Huguenot]

Lol! :))

[Michael Palaeologus]

Given the steep rise in electricity prices, will there be an increase in canabis prices as well? Should this be factored into the inflation calculations?

[Horsebox]

:)) @ Burbage.

[Smiler]

There was a cannabis factory in Hansler Road a few months ago, the helicopters had been buzzing around a lot and the place was raided one morning, it took them all day to take away all the plants in a big van. The police use helicopters with thermal things to spot houses using excessive power (apparently they had tapped into the mains this time). But some police forces now have thermal things that are hand-held by police officers, which obviously cause less noise than helicopters!