IR-01-25-475
24 February 2025
G R Steen
[FYI request #29657 email]
Tēnā koe
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 28 December 2024,
regarding the Eagle Police helicopter. My response to each part of your request can be
found below.
How many sworn staff are within the Police helicopter unit?
There are 15 Tactical Flight Officers working within the Air Support Unit, who are all
sworn police officers.
In addition to the Tactical Flight Officers there are civilian contractors who pilot the
aircraft. For more information on their responsibilities please refer to the Police website:
https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/structure/police-teams-and-units/air-support-eagle-
unit
How are they recruited? What are the specific prerequisites? And do you require
them to live in a certain area?
Staff working within the Police helicopter unit are required to model high standards of
personal performance, ethics, and integrity. They must assist and support other
personnel, while maintaining personal, physical, and emotional health.
In addition to the above, employees must also have and maintain Physical Competency
Test currency and undergo a Core Children’s Worker security check.
Eagle is based in Auckland and therefore primarily attends jobs in the three Tāmaki
Makaurau Police districts. The table below shows the number of jobs Eagle attended over
the past five years, by district.
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
Table 1. The number of jobs Eagle attended over the past five years, by district.
Financial year
/ District
Auckland City Counties Manukau Waitematā Out of District
2023-24
2114
3008
1684
126
2022-23
2202
3313
1815
103
2021-22
2188
3580
1731
124
2020-21
1925
3077
1797
102
2019-20
1785
2927
1541
119
What are their height, weight, and body requirements?
There are no such requirements of Tactical Flight Officers.
Police only requires those working with the Eagle helicopter to maintain personal,
physical and emotional health. General health wil al ow employees to effectively perform
the duties and functions of this position.
As part of its commitment to openness and transparency, Police proactively releases
some information and documents that may be of interest to the public. An anonymised
version of this response may be publicly released on the New Zealand Police website.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Inspector Vaughn Graham
Operations Manager, Metro Groups
Tāmaki Makaurau
