Police airship



Police airships are large, metal, zeppelin-like vehicles employed by Republic City's police force to patrol the city skyline from above. They are manufactured by Future Industries.

History
Several of these ships patrol the skies of Republic City each day, searching the streets below for signs of crime. When Avatar Korra had her run-in with the Triple Threat Triad, the police arrived in one of these ships. When it became apparent to Korra that the police wanted to apprehend her as well, she and her polar bear dog, Naga, made a run for it. Although she easily outran the metalbending police officers on foot, the officers in the airship were able to keep up, eventually managing to restrain her and Naga in metal cables. They were suspended in the air under the ship by the cables and transported back to the police headquarters.

While Korra was waiting for Amon on Avatar Aang Memorial Island, Tarrlok claimed to have a fleet of police airships ready to swoop down in case the situation got out of control.

During the Pro-bending finals, airships were stationed above the arena to provide security in case of an Equalist attack. However, they were destroyed by the Equalists when they attacked the arena.

During the raid on Hiroshi Sato's mansion, the Metalbending Police Force used one of these airships to get to the Satos' home. After being defeated by the owner of Future Industries and the Equalists in a secret factory under the mansion, Korra, Lin, Tenzin, Mako, Bolin, and Asami used the airship to escape.

During a supposed Equalist protest in the Dragon Flats borough, Tarrlok had a number of these airships patrolling the area.

During the Equalists' attack on Republic City, many of these airships were deployed throughout the city. One of the Police Force's telephone operators informed Chief Saikhan that the police airship in "area 7" had been taken out by an Equalist airship, and had crashed into the harbor. Later, Tenzin witnessed a police airship on fire, rapidly falling from the sky.

Design
The design of these aircraft are very similar to the Fire Nation airships used during the final stages of the Hundred Year War. The large zeppelin-like vessels are structured primarily of metal and employ multiple propeller sets to move. The underside of the craft features a retractable metal panel on the side, which serves as the launch point for metalbenders who pursue criminals on foot. There is also a cockpit from which metalbenders launch metal wires from the inside of the ship, enabling the crew to apprehend criminals and fugitives from the safety of the craft. The ships are equipped with loud alarm horns and megaphones in order to signal the police's arrival and to make their demands known to those on the ground. These airships seem considerably faster and easier to navigate than Fire Nation airships. The Chinese characters 警察, which mean "police", adorn the craft's exterior.