New pictures released by West Midlands Police show the power of thermal imaging in the fight against crime.

The force helicopter, known to officers on the street by its call sign Alpha Oscar 1, is fitted with an array of technology which helped catch 537 people last year.

Amongst it, is a specialist heat-sensitive camera, which works by determining the temperature of objects and converting the information into a visible picture.

It is then displayed in black and white on a monitor, showing either black or white as hot, depending on the preference of the person watching the footage.

One of the images shows a burglary suspect discarding an item in some bushes as he tries to get away from pursuing officers.

But the heat-sensitive camera captures the disposal and the property can clearly be seen glowing in the hedge, which police later recovered and used as evidence.

Another image shows suspects hiding amongst a cluster of industrial units; their heat radiating from some 900 feet away and picked up by the helicopter flying overhead.

Assisting the police on the ground on a daily basis, AO1 tracks suspects and also assists in searches for missing people. In 2012, the helicopter spent 1,175 hours in the sky and was responsible for finding 27 people who had been reported missing.

Sergeant David Mitchell said: “It takes such a short amount of time for us to search an area that it really pays off for the officers on the ground – who are then freed up to carry out more urgent tasks.”

But it’s not just about crime – the police helicopter also acts as casualty transportation in life or death situations, when the air ambulance cannot work at night.

The AO1 team regularly updates residents across the West Midlands about their activities via a dedicated Twitter account – @WMP_Helicopter.

It was set up to allow people to see where the helicopter has been and why it’s been there.

Sgt Mitchell added: “We tweet regularly about the incidents we’ve been involved with and try to give as much information as possible without jeopardising any investigations or court proceedings. People often want to know why we’ve woken them up in the early hours of the morning, which is understandable and we hope that our Twitter account helps them understand the nature of the incidents we attend.

“The overwhelming response from our community is that they welcome the assistance the aircraft gives.”