Garda Air Support Unit
Encyclopedia
Garda Water Unit
The Garda Water Unit is a unit of the Garda Síochána, the police service of Ireland. Formerly known as the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, the name was changed to incorporate the services of the non-diving surfaced based marine section....
, Dog Support
Garda Dog Unit
The Garda Dog Unit is a unit of an Garda Síochána, the police force of Ireland.It is part of the Operational Support Unit which provides specialist support to Gardaí nationwide...
and Mounted Support Unit
Garda Mounted Unit
The Garda Mounted Support Unit is the horseback mounted division of An Garda Síochána.It is part of the Operational Support Unit which provides specialist support to Gardaí nationwide...
s.
The GASU's aircraft are maintained and flown by the Irish Air Corps
Irish Air Corps
The Air Corps is the air component of the Defence Forces of Ireland providing support to the Army and Naval Service, together with non-military air services such as search and rescue and the Ministerial Air Transport Service...
, and based at Casement Aerodrome
Casement Aerodrome
Casement Aerodrome or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the south west of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole base of the Irish Air Corps, and is also used for other government purposes...
near Dublin. The unit operates a Britten-Norman BN 2T-4S Defender 4000
Britten-Norman Defender
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aircraft, and two EC 135 T1
Eurocopter EC 135
The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil helicopter produced by Eurocopter, widely used amongst police and ambulance services and for executive transport. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules .-Development:...
helicopters. A Eurocopter AS355N Squirrel
Eurocopter AS355
The Eurocopter AS355 Ecureuil 2 is a twin-engine light helicopter originally manufactured by Aérospatiale...
helicopter was in use by the unit up until January 2008 - when it was replaced by a second EC 135 T1.
The Garda Air Support Unit contributed directly to 1,300 arrests within the last three years, and located 14 people during search and rescue operations. GASU responsibilities include providing an active support role for the Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
and aircraft may be deployed to incidents in the following circumstances:
- An immediate threat to life.
- Incidents of crime, terrorism or of national importance.
- Immediate threat of serious public disorder.
- A task which will lead to the immediate prevention or detection of crime.
- To gather evidence and to prevent or detect crime or to avert a serious public disorder.
- To gather information on and deal with incidents relating to Crime, Public disorder and traffic related matters.
- Collecting footage from the air at a major event