Drug busts, police chases and dog rescues: reflecting on 45 years of PolAir

When Stuart Davey joined the NSW Police Force's elite Aviation Command, better known as PolAir, in 1981, many of his colleagues had thick, dark, luxurious moustaches; Stuart's was blonde.

When he reminisces about how he used to twist his mo into a point at the ends, he almost seems disappointed that his wasn't like the ones his colleagues' had.

"I kicked off there at 21. I think the youngest guy [after him] was 34, and a lot of them were ex-Vietnam guys who trained me," he said.

Back then, PolAir was in its infancy with just three Bell Jet Ranger helicopters.

Today, that has grown to five Bell helicopters, three Cessna Grand Caravan fixed-wing aircraft and a fleet of drones.

The Illawarra resident recalls days of patrolling the sky, catching the baddies and drug dealers who were, like now, often in the sights of police in the air.

During Stuart's PolAir days, police intelligence discovered a drug dealer with a bright-coloured car was operational in the Illawarra.

Officers quickly discovered the dealer used the conspicuous vehicle to do deliveries of the illicit drug across the region, and the chopper was called in to direct officers on the ground to make an arrest.

"We just had the teams from Sydney waiting around the corner, and as soon as he'd leave, we'd go 'yep, OK'," he said of the dramatic arrest.

In a separate incident, he remembers being on the PolAir chopper that pursued a Porsche from Sydney to the Illawarra.

"He had to go around the bends, we didn't, so we got in front of him and lit him up with the lights and that was the end of him," Stuart said.

When he was "young and silly" he didn't get nervous being on PolAir jobs, but as he aged he began to "sweat" a bit.

"We do some horrendous rescues on cliffs, Blue Mountains, miles out to sea at night in a little single-engine jet ranger in cyclone conditions, in close to cliffs, in cloud, extremely rough conditions," he said.

"We did a lot of rescues down here [in the Illawarra] and out to sea missing kids, aircraft crashes, parachute people."

These days, 55 per cent of all PolAir jobs are in regional areas and incidents can include search and rescue, bushfires, floods, surveillance jobs, pursuits and winch rescues, along with everyday police work.

Aircrews are equipped with night vision goggles made for the United States Defence Force, and this gear turns night into day to help find missing bushwalkers or people on the run from police.

NSW Police Aviation Command Operations Manager, Inspector Allan Simpson, said the Bankstown-based PolAir fleet and crews have been deployed to numerous pursuits in the Illawarra this year, and the 'eyes in the sky' give officers on the ground better situational awareness, which helps keep everybody safer.

"It means we're reducing the risk to the public or reducing the risk to the police," he said.

Last year, the Aviation Command celebrated its 45th birthday, and a position on the small team of just 78 officers and staff is just as highly sought-after now as it was decades ago.

"The team do tremendous work, they're a highly skilled, very professional outfit. It is a small team, so each recruitment phase is very competitive. It's a protracted recruitment phase, it's far more than just a job interview," Insp Simpson said.

"We look to select the best, and those that are applying and getting through to that stage clearly have a passion for the aviation work."

Insp Simpson said while 'catching the baddie' might get all the headlines, his favourite part of the job is helping the average person out on a bad day.

"That's what brings the job satisfaction when you can help a lost bushwalker or a fisherman that's just had a bad day, a family that may be lost on a walk. Sometimes those jobs are more rewarding than the car chase."