Security firms eye sky in bid to beat crime

THE concept of an eye in the sky or big brother watching you has taken on a new meaning in South Africa as private security companies delve into the world of drones.

Constantly looking to outsmart criminals and cut back spending on manpower, security firms are now turning to the sky to conduct their business.

But the move is raising the concern of many, especially homeowners, who fear invasion of privacy.

Drone Squad has recently started to advertise security and surveillance services in Gauteng. The company declined to elaborate. But private security company CSS managing director Ricky Croock said that in the next few months there would be a huge increase in the use of drones in the security industry. CSS itself is looking at using drones. Croock said his company was looking at different ways to use technology to cut down on manpower and the waste of resources on false alarms.

He said 99% of their callouts were for false alarms.

“It will be much easier to send a drone over the property to assess whether it is a real emergency or a false alarm than sending a response vehicle.”

Information technology company Wipro executive Gavin Holme believes drones have a major role to play in reducing crime.

“Although the use of drones sparks debates on where the lines of personal privacy should be drawn, there is no doubt surveillance footage is useful to authorities when tracking down suspects.

“With metro police authorities operating surveillance cameras in a fully connected way, they become more efficient and can cover more ground in fighting crime,” Holme said

Drone Solutions executive Pierre Wiese said the firm had been supplying individuals and companies with drones for several years.

Among the most common users were farmers who used them to monitor fences and livestock.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Kabelo Ledwaba said since July 2015, the authority had registered 455 drone systems.