Beating bike thieves with drones
Police use aerial surveillance to tackle antisocial biking rise
Operation Dove has seen officers in Lancashire team up with a police drone team to tackle the antisocial and illegal use of offroad motorbikes in the Burnley and Padiham areas.
The unmanned craft was enlisted to help after a spate of antisocial riding was reported in the area and has already helped to identify a youth who had managed to evade police.
“The young male who made off from the drone was identified and has this morning been interviewed, and faced with the evidence from the footage has fully admitted various motoring offences and has been passed to the Youth Offending Team for their attention,” the force said on their Facebook page. “Acting upon the intelligence and information supplied we targeted specific areas. Two riders were identified and upon attempting to leave one rider was detained. He has been reported for
a variety of motoring offences and his bike seized.
“Earlier on in the month an off-road bike had made off from patrols. Enquiries have been made and the rider identified, he has been reported for the offences and will be dealt with. A note to riders who want to flout the law is ‘watch out the drone is about’.” And Burnley aren’t the only force to have had success in fighting moped crime in July. Officers acting as part of Operation Yellowfin in Grimsby have been working with the local community to fight illegal riding. “We received an email from someone reporting that a motorcycle had been ridden antisocially,” said Inspector Mark Fletcher. “Officers carried out investigations and a suspect was identified, located and will soon be appearing before the court. “We also had a message, via My Community Alert, about young people riding a motorbike on the fields and woods near Foxhills. “The team received the message and went straight to the area. Once there, the teens tried to hide the bike and run away but were stopped by officers. We seized the bike and reported the teens “This highlights what can be achieved when we work with the community and I would like to reiterate how important it is that we continue working together.” He added that kids who engage in antisocial riding are not only putting themselves in danger, they are also endangering members of their local community and will not be tolerated.
‘The male who made off was identified’ LANCASHIRE POLICE