HI-TECH DRONE JOINS FORCE
DERBYSHIRE Police have revealed a new method of catching criminals – from the air.
Officers from the Derbyshire Rural Crime Team will now be using a hi-tech drone to help them target crime in the Dales.
PCs Andy Shaw and Karl Webster have passed their Permission for Commercial Operations course, an exam and practical flying assessment which now means they have permission to pilot drones commercially.
Sgt James Shirley said: “Drones can bring about great benefits to policing which can give us more capability when it comes to preventing and detecting crime, especially in the Peak District and in rural-based incidents now that we have two officers from our team trained and qualified for drone support.”
The force previously announced it was using the technology throughout the county, with a small dedicated drone unit to provide aerial support to officers on the ground.
Previously, drones have been employed to search for missing people or hunt wanted criminals with thermal imaging.
They have also been used to direct firefighters tackling deadly blazes and A DJI Matrice series 200 drone provide an aerial view of drugs warrants.
Derbyshire Police’s drone fleet consists of two types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The first is a DJI Matrice 210, equipped with two cameras capable of either x30 optical zoom or thermal imaging. It has a durable body that means it can fly even in rain and high winds. The second is a DJI Mavic Pro, which can shoot 4K UltraHD footage and has a lightweight body, designed to be deployed within minutes.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Gibson said: “We have known for a long time about the great benefits drones can bring to policing, and we’ve worked closely with other forces while developing our own team and bringing them to Derbyshire.
“The core principle of policing is to preserve life, and having drones that can be quickly deployed to find a missing or stranded person using thermal imagery, and guide officers to that person from the air, is a fantastic tool.
“They can also give us unimpeded views of live scenes, so we can locate and track a suspect, for example, or feed critical information back to the incident commander.
Drone technology has moved swiftly in the last few years and I’m pleased that we are now able to adopt these aircraft and use them to help keep the public safe.”