The Swedish Police operates its own helicopter unit since nearly half a century back. The Police Wing, or Polisflyget as it is called in Swedish, is subordinated the National Criminal Police (Rikskriminalen) and employs roughly 35 officers. The Police Wing operates a fleet of six EC135s and one Jet Ranger. The EC135s are spread throughout four air stations – Gothenburg (2), Stockholm (2), Östersund (1) and Boden (1). The Jet Ranger is stationed at the main base in Gothenburg and serves as a flight trainer at the organization’s own flight school (FTO). The helicopters are available 24/7 and can be requested by any police unit in the country. The most frequent assignments are surveillance tasks and search operations. Although being a government authority the Police Wing is managed as a civil helicopter company and carries the structure stipulated by EASA, supervised by the Swedish Transport Agency. Its pilots are police officers that have served at least five years in the force before gaining a Commercial Pilot License and an extensive mission training. <b>New base, new helicopter</b>On 13 October 2011 the National Police Board gave the National Criminal Police the duty to establish a new air station in southern Sweden and to buy a new helicopter for the operation.