London, Oct 23 (PTI) Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, on Thursday announced the launch of an innovative trial involving drones being dispatched to support officers
responding to emergencies in the UK capital.
The new technology is aimed at the Met Police responding more quickly to emergency calls, with drones feeding intelligence to officers arriving at incidents in record time.
The drones will capture high-quality imagery within minutes, aimed at providing real-time situational awareness of incidents for more rapid, informed and effective police response.
“Our Drone as First Responder (DFR) programme will see police resources arriving at crime scenes across London quicker,” said Met Police Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the force’s national lead for drones.
“They will assist in tracing suspects, locating missing people and delivering intelligence to our officers as they respond to Londoners when they need us most. We are building a Met that is more precise and efficient than ever before, and this new technology gives us a vital new tool to tackle crime in the capital,” he said.
As part of a response to a 999 emergency call, a drone will be launched remotely from the Met Police’s control room and piloted by specially trained operators.
The drones will arrive on the scene within two minutes and from there will stream high-quality footage to assist officers both on the ground and in the control room.
The force said these drones will be used for a variety of frontline policing needs, including searching for missing people, tracing a suspect, or arriving quicker to capture evidence at the scene of an incident.
“The drones will provide intelligence quicker – including on a suspect’s whereabouts and real-time descriptions of a suspect’s appearance. This will help officers catch criminals and stop them from causing further harm to communities,” the Met Police said.
The force said its new drones are “quicker, quieter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly” than existing police helicopters, whilst delivering the same operational effects. Subject to a successful trial, they form an important part of the police force’s mission to use technology to ensure public safety.
This new DFR pilot is being introduced in London under the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)’s drones programme. The project has been initially launched in Islington, north London, with the Met Police aiming to roll it out to two more sites across London before the end of the year - covering the busy West End and Hyde Park area of central London.
Superintendent Taryn Evans, who leads the NPCC Drones Programme and the pilot for the Met, described it as an “exciting opportunity” to support both officer and community safety.
“We’ve been running trials of the programme in several different police forces with a range of operating environments from urban to rural and the technology has proven a gamechanger in many incidents. This pilot with the Met brings together our two years of learning and development,” he said.
Other UK police forces, such as Norfolk Constabulary, Cleveland Police, West Midlands Police, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Thames Valley Police Joint Operations Unit are also in the NPCC’s trial phase of this technology.
The drones are housed in special boxes on the roofs of selected police buildings, charging and waiting for a call to launch. Under the DFR programme, the Met’s control room will make the decision to deploy a drone and it will be remotely launched to the incident.
Once overhead a scene, the drone’s imagery will be transmitted in real-time to the specific control room or mobile user, supporting the police response and recording footage for evidence. At the end of the deployment, the drone will return to its landing area and the weather-proof box will close so it can be charged and prepared for its next mission.
The drone’s video feed is expected to help the control room tailor the emergency response and send the right resources.
While the Met Police has used drones to assist in policing previously, this has been an asset that is often requested in advance. The DFR programme will mean that drones will be able to assist within minutes of a request for assistance. PTI AK GRS
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