Police in England have unveiled their new plans for a 24-hour drone unit that will be able to provide round-the-clock assistance in tackling crime.
The Devon and Cornwall police have already been on the hunt for a drone team manager who will be tasked with managing the operational and unique drone response. This program will involve at least 9 different police jurisdictions across the two areas.
This isn't the first time that police will be working with drones in order to carry-out their occupational duties. But it is the first time that such a 24-hour drone police team has been suggested.
The force has been testing the drones for at least a year in order to accurately assess their operational effectiveness.
They will be using the drones to assist the police force with activities such as looking for missing persons, monitor protests, as well as taking crime scene photographs, and other possible scenarios.
The police officials have said that they are committed to using the new technology in order to provide “more efficient” services.
The drones that the Devon and Cornwall police are said to be using, are the DJI Inspire 1 drones (pictured above).
These drones
- cost thousands of dollars
- are equipped with an HD camera,
- are able to provide about 20 minutes of flight time
- can reach an altitude that is about 400 ft
- can fly up to 43.5mph
- weigh less than 10 lbs.
After they launch their program, it likely won't be long before other police departments follow suit. There are dozens of police departments already in the US too, that are working alongside with drones on a regular basis and it's sure to become more prevalent in the future.
Drone video recordings have even started to be involved in various court proceedings, in order to provide the jurors with a better visualization of where a possible crime might have happened. They are an amazing tool that have made their way into a variety of different markets and it's exciting to see the world transform because of this innovation.
Some policing experts in the UK have criticized the program, saying that it is likely going to lead to a “nightmare scenario” and that this is the sort of stuff that Orwellian nightmares are made of. Let's just hope for the best, shall we?
If the police are really concerned about resources and want to use them more wisely, then I would suggest to them that they stop focusing on wasting those resources over victimless crimes and instead re-focus their energy on other activities.
Pics:
News article Devon and Cornwall Police
Giphy
TechCrunch
Sources:
https://heatst.com/life/uk-police-to-be-replaced-by-drone-officers/
https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0320/861015-uk-police-drones/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3129028/cops-launch-spy-drone-flying-squad/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4329714/Remote-controlled-flying-squad-chase-criminals.html
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I remember seeing drones for the first time in the old Sonic cartoons. 20 years later they are real. Very cool tech but more eyes for Big Brother.
Big Brother is gaining more senses than sight as modern technology evolves.
He's getting jacked right up :)
And the Orwellian nightmare gets worse!
lol!
lol I also wanted do do a meme with the wolf. Couldn't figure out how to bring Big brother in the picture though. Nice one!
That must have been expensive to implement
I don't know whether to scream or be happy because of technology sometimes. I lean towards scream with this one.
Make your voice heard.
All of these tv shows seem to be coming true...bit ironic, don't you think?
Indeed they are. I guess that's because we get what we want to see the most on TV and what we want to see the most eventually is created in reality.
Unfortunately.
I feel like hollywood has a bit of intel that they use as propaganda. ;)
That's scary and fascinating. Let's hope they make the best out of it.
Of course they could be abused, but these have to be much cheaper to run than a helicopter and could be very useful when conducting a search of a large area or looking for trouble in crowds. As long as there are bad people around we need the police and they need the right tools to do the job. These are going to be visible when flying, so it's not like they can be watching us all the time without us knowing. We have all the CCTV cameras to do that ;)
I'm sure they are useful in many cases. I'm just paranoid sometimes. I have been mugged and severely beaten in a dark ally before. All over a $25 flip phone. That probably wouldn't have happened if there had been one of those drones around.
Sorry to hear that. We want to be safe, but we don't want to be constantly tracked. We have to find compromises. As this thing only flies for 20 minutes I expect it's going to be deployed when there's already something going on.
Sure. Always have to find that middle.
Wouldn't people raise chaotic concerns regarding their "privacy" though, as much as they admit that drone surveillance is of good assistance in crime fighting?
Lots of people seem to not care about privacy anymore. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"
That's absolutely true. Regarding your post about being mugged, my country could do with these drones.
We seem to accept all the CCTV cameras, so is this worse? If my child was lost I'd want the police to have tools like this
I didn't think that far. CCTV would be more flexible in such a case. As long as the equipment does not suddenly "malfunction", the tech would definitely find missing children and combat all other types of crime.
fuck the police, they need to stop harassing ppl...
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The next big battery breakthrough is going to be a very mixed 'blessing'. On one hand much cleaner transportation will be a reality and OTOH drones and probably even insect sized spy devices will be everywhere. Spy vs Spy made real like in Mad magazine--but you are one of the spies just trying to live a somewhat free life. I predict in the next 10 years a Frank Herbert inspired 'hunter seeker' assassination autonomous mini drone will be deployed. Won't that be fun?