Police aviation in United Kingdom provides British police forces with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking. All police aviation in England and Wales comes under the National Police Air Service (NPAS), while Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland operate independent units.
In addition to its fleet of helicopters, NPAS has introduced four Vulcanair P68R, which are fixed-wing aircraft able to provide longer flying time and lower running costs.
Police aviation in England and Wales was once a force-by-force, or forces working in partnership, organisation, however from 2012 to 2015 it transitioned to NPAS.[1]