History
About PACE
Photo album
Pace forum HERE
Members only below
Members Home
Forgot username
Advertisers
TLC Handling
Skyforce
Wescam
HeliMedia
kalagate
JAG Vision
AeroSimulators
AeroComputers
Publications
ALEA
Rotorhub
Police Aviation News
Bookmark this site!
Admin
|
|
History Page
The birth of PACE is a direct result of a lot of difficulties faced by Chief Inspector Herman Baeyens of the Belgian Federal Police (at that time the Gendarmerie). In the early 90's he was in
charge of a police air support project. Therefore he needed to collect a substantial amount of useful information at various police forces abroad within a reasonable time, not knowing where to start
and whom to contact exactly. Eventually he succeeded in his information gathering but later on it proved to be not as successful as it seemed to be.
So, once the Belgian Federal Police air support unit was established, Chief Inspector Herman Baeyens decided to take an initiative to help his peers confronted with the same start up problems and
even existing air support units trying to solve new problems. Especially since a lot of solutions exist already somewhere.
Given this need, Chief Inspector Herman Baeyens shared his dream with some colleagues of his air support unit and they decided together to give it a try. They launched the idea of organising a
conference in order to found a European platform covering the needs of information exchange between air support units. An official body seemed to be too difficult to establish and so they favoured
the private option: a private association.
A conference in Brussels was scheduled on 04 and 05-06-1998.
To organise this conference a temporary private association, called "Police Air Support Units Conferences Europe" (PACE), was created (16-04-1998). The members of this association were Stephan Heydens , Luc Stremersch and Herman Baeyens.The initial PACE was necessary to handle the sponsorship that was provided by some suppliers.
At the Brussels conference both alternatives, the private association and the official body, were presented to the audience. The public finally voted to establish a European platform for police ASU's
and in particular for the private formula. Herman Baeyens was appointed President and Stephan Heydens Financial officer.
The programme, next to the presentation and discussions about the alternatives and the vote, was composed of workshops about the use of fixed wing aircraft and the search of missing persons.
Decisions taken: establishment of a PACE network and a PACE Board as well as Regional directors.
After the start up of the PACE network, the Belgian Gendarmerie Headquarters opposed itself to two aspects: the use of sponsorship by officers of the Belgian Gendarmerie and the participation of
police officers at an association of air support units. This explains the change of policy in that the PACE network became a semi-official body (ad hoc contacts and meetings instead of a permanent
body) and the decision not to use sponsorship anymore. After a while the initial private PACE association has been abolished and the new PACE was born. The full name changed into "Police Air Support
Units Networking Centre Europe" instead of '.Conferences Europe".
The PACE membership situation on 14-01-1999: Belgian Gendarmerie ASU, Bundesvereinigung fliegendes Personal der Polizei (B.f.P.P., Germany), Police Helicopter Division (Greece), Garda Siochana
Special Services ( Ireland ), Police Air Support Services ( the Netherlands), National Observer School (Switzerland), Cheshire ASU (UK), Chiltern ASU ( UK), East Midlands ASU (UK), Hampshire ASU (
UK), Humberside ASU (UK), Merseyside Air Support Group (UK), North Midlands ASU (UK), South East Region ASU ( UK), the Police Service of Northern Ireland ASU (UK), South Yorkshire ASU ( UK), West
Midlands Police Air Operations Unit (UK), West Yorkshire Police Operations Division ( UK), Western Counties Air Operations Unit ( UK), Wiltshire ASU ( UK) and a covert ASU.
In total: 22 member units out of 7 countries . On the other hand, since the 1998 conference, next 7 ASU's (present at the founding conference) had not become a member: Home Office/Division IV/21 (
Austria), the Czech Police Aviation Department, the French Gendarmerie Air Support Group, the Border Guard Air Support Group ( Germany), the Hampshire ASU ( UK), the South East and Wales ASU (UK) and
the Sussex ASU ( UK).
The delegates at the 1998 founding conference (04 and 05-06-1998) were:
Franz Huber and Peter Holzhacker (Home Office/Division IV/21, Austria),
Herman Baeyens, Stephan Heydens and Luc Stremersch (Belgian Gendarmerie ASU),
Joseph Rousar and Vaclav Kricner (Czech Police Aviation Department),
Marc Duclos (French Gendarmerie Air Support Group),
Karl Heinz Schenk (Border Guard Air Support Group,Germany),
Ingo Schwarz and Hans Josef Miebach (Bundesvereinigung fliegendes Personal der Polizei (B.f.P.P., Germany),
Aidan Reid and Tom Mansfield (Garda Siochana Special Services, Ireland),
Edo Van den Brink, Wouter Kaihatu and Herman Damveld (Police Air Support Services, the Netherlands),
Willem Verweij (Rotterdam Police ASU, the Netherlands),
Felix Walz (National Observer School,Switzerland),
Doug Mackay, Robb Jackson and Roy Webb (Chiltern ASU, UK),
Barry Talbot and Andy Forbes (Hampshire ASU, UK),
Max Kenworthy (Home Office Police Science and Technology Unit, UK),
Andy Adamson, Dan Howse and John Carr (Merseyside Air Support Group, UK),
Philip Whitelaw (South East Region ASU, UK),
Bill Burrell (the Police Service of Northern Ireland ASU),
Stuart Wilkins and Peter Davies (South East and Wales ASU, UK),
Mick Cooper and Pete Norton (South Yorkshire ASU, UK),
Cliff Gale (Sussex ASU, UK),
John Whittaker (West Yorkshire Police Operations Division, UK),
Christopher Ware (Western Counties Air Operations Unit, UK),
Mike Evans (Wiltshire ASU, UK)
Two delegates from a covert ASU.
In total: 23 delegations out of 8 countries.
|
