Newly promoted Inspector Neil Mohammed, who is set to take over as head of the Police Air Operations Unit, has his sights set on building the unit’s search and rescue profile as it continues to expand its services.
Mohammed, currently deputy head of the unit, will take over the reins later this year from Steve Fitzgerald when he retires from the service after a decade with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
Mohammed, in a recent interview with the Cayman Compass, said a focus for his tenure will be upgrading the skillset on the unit.
“I would like to develop further our capabilities to not only service our islands, but to service the overseas territories as per our MOU with the [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]. But locally, I’d like to look at increasing our capability and hoisting services, and making ourselves more available to provide that service to our partners, the Cayman Islands Coast Guard [which] is tasked with search and rescue in our geographical area,” he added.
Plans for search and rescue
Both police helicopters, the most advanced H145s in the region, have hoisting capabilities, and Mohammed is aiming to have the AOU team trained up to execute rescues using the winch.
“There’s quite a bit more specialised training. And it’s not just training and certification, but it’s constant training after,” he said.
He said for him the importance of building the hoisting capability is simply, “one life saved.”
“I think that just sums it up in one lesson, and to be prepared in the event that we have to save one life. Yes we’d love to be prepared and never have to use that skill, but employing it once and saving a life sums it all up. The helicopter has the capability for hoisting we just have to get our teams ready,” he added.
A recent police press release pointed out that during 2021-2022, the RCIPS Air Operations Unit twice deployed a H145 police helicopter and crew to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where they provided security and stability support to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force in countering unlawful migration.
“The deployments, which lasted for two weeks each, were conducted from 1-15 December 2021, and 5-19 January 2022, respectively. Over the course of the four weeks, the two crews flew 41 flights, with a total of 75 hours of flying time, and covered an area of 6,500 nautical miles. Most of the operations focused on the southern approaches of TCI and routes to neighbouring Haiti,” it stated.
Outside of those duties, the police helicopter is also an important asset during hurricane season and is part of the regional relief response for fellow British Oversea Territories.
“Having been part of the unit from its birth through its infancy and maturity, I am aware there will be many challenges ahead, and I am ready to face these as I continue on with my development through a very comprehensive mentoring programme with Steve, who continues to share his wealth of experience, gained over the course of his 49 years in law enforcement, 29 years in police aviation, and 12 years with the RCIPS,” Mohammed said in that statement. “I also look forward to bringing to fruition the development and placement of our own first Caymanian police helicopter pilot, Darren McLean.”
Increase in Med-evacs
Apart from being a police asset the choppers have also been used for medical evacuations between islands and Mohammed said there have been an increased use of this service.
“I believe for the year, so far to date we’ve conducted in excess of a dozen. Last year we only did 12, so we’ve exceeded what we had done last year in just four months of the year. I would like to ensure that we are prepared for any eventuality. Police service isn’t just our own customers. Yes, we are police aircraft, but a lot of our government departments are our customers. We do provide services to the Department of Environment, Marine enforcement, Cayman Islands, Coast Guard and the Cayman Islands Regiment,” he added.
Fitzgerald said he was quite proud to see Mohammed promoted and have him take over the reins for the Unit.
“Although it is bittersweet to be retiring after all these years, I know that the Air Operations Unit will be in good hands with Neil at the helm, and I look forward to his continued development over the next few months,” he said in a recent statement.
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