By Ernie Stephens

Growing recognition of homeland security needs, the availability of funding to meet them, and new equipment to support those missions are lifting police air units from England to Indonesia.

Law enforcement agencies across the globe are recognizing the value of airborne support and acting to secure it for their operations.

In almost every region of the world, prospects are for the growth of airborne law enforcement units. They are fostered by the steadily increasing realization of the scope of threats to homeland security and the need to respond proactively to them as well as to natural disasters and common crimes.

Regional factors also are sustaining police-related air units.

Homeland security remains a major push in the United States, with federal, state and local funding now better matching the expansive requirements involved.

In Europe, new members of the Europe Union (as well as aspiring ones) are striving to meet the border protection requirements of membership and turning to rotorcraft to fulfill them.

In Latin America, agencies are deploying to counter threats from other nations and pursuing insurgencies that, in several cases, appear to be in their death throes.

Agencies throughout Asia likewise are seeking upgraded aircraft and equipment to better protect their borders from enemies and pirates and better respond to disasters.

Major cities also are confronting a range of public security issues. The New York Police Dept is setting up a new homeland-security unit. Beijing, Vancouver and London each are bolstering their abilities to ensure public safety during major events; each will host an Olympics in the next four years, with Beijing's starting next month.

Here, and in the pages that follow, we review the operations of police air units throughout the world. To begin, as the Airborne Law Enforcement Assn prepares to gather for its annual meeting in Houston, we wanted to get the views of line officers and their needs and the means of meeting them. Rotor & Wing asked dozens of airborne law enforcement professionals in North America to talk about the specialized equipment they find most useful. Each responded with insight gained from years of frontline experience patrolling the skies, pursuing criminals and providing assistance to the citizens they serve from above.

Here is their list of the high-tech (and in one case, low-tech) gear they find most valuable.

Radios

Even if no other extras were installed, a police helicopter would be just another helicopter without a suite of radios specifically designed to allow aircrews to communicate with personnel on the...