Palm Bay Police Paramotors Parajet Special Projects

Parajet was asked to produce custom paramotors for the Palm Bay Police department as part of their Search Operations Aerial Repsonse (SOAR) program.

As Government agencies around the world look to reduce their expenditure, many public departments are being forced to rethink their operations - the police force is no exception.
Helicopters cost a vast sum of money in police operations, but yet aerial reconnaissance and assistance is a vital part of modern policing.

The Palm Bay Police Department (PBPD), Florida, often get called to look for missing persons or stolen vehicles in the vast countryside surrounding the city. On foot, this takes at least 20 officers to search a tiny area of the densely vegetated countryside a whole day.  Now that the high costs of a helicopter have rendered it unviable, Parajet has come to the fore.

Paramotors seemed an unlikely solution, but when two lieutenants who used paramotors recreationally put the costs together they realized that they would be able to cover huge amounts of area at a tiny running cost.  Able to fly at low speeds and at low altitudes, which the helicopters were often restricted from, and giving a much better field of vision, the paramotors have proved themselves an invaluable asset to the department. They fit easily into the back of a patrol vehicle, and can launch and land in minutes from any open space. The cost of the a Parajet unit is equivalent to 1 day’s use of the helicopter.

Jim Edmondson, MD at Parajet, said - “We are delighted with our partnership with the Palm Bay Police department. This is an example of a small British company coping with a tough economic climate, finding new business in new arenas.”

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