A special police air unit for emergency calls and serious criminal cases is being established in central China's Henan Province.
Li Minqing, head of the Zhengzhou Public Security Bureau, said that local police were training air crews and constructing tarmac.
Li said that the air unit was part of a fast-reaction force to better fulfill police roles of hunting criminal suspects and providing relief for victims of floods, fire and other disasters.
The unit will include two highly-advanced helicopter gunships whose air speed can reach 180 to 200 kilometers per hour.
Equipped with thermal imaging equipment, night vision equipment,small-bore pistols, portable machine guns and sniper weapons, the two helicopters will be put to use in June and August.
(People's Daily May 31, 2002)
