Police and Crime Commissioner learns more about police drones

Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg this week met with police officers from Devon and Cornwall Police and the National Police Air Service (NPAS) to learn about the benefits of drones for policing.

Devon and Cornwall Police has been trialling the use of drones to aid police work since early November 2015.

The force currently has two drones in operation, which have been used at a number of major incidents across the two counties.

They are used to take aerial photographs, record videos and map areas of interest to assist police investigations.

They have been used at crime scenes and at the scenes of road traffic collisions to collect photographic evidence.

Video recordings collected from a drone have also been used in court proceedings to help the jury visualise where a crime took place and the movement of the accused.

“The use of drones will complement the work already carried out by NPAS and the police helicopters,” said Mr Hogg.

“Drones are cost effective. The main costs involved in attending the scenes are the fuel for the traffic response vehicle to transport them and the cost of charging the batteries.

“Their use may also mean that fewer officers are needed to attend an incident, meaning officers can be deployed somewhere else where they are needed.”

Drones can cover large areas to look for missing persons and to look over cliff edges or search quarries without endangering officers.

Inspector Andrew Hamilton told Mr Hogg that, upon completion of a successful trial, the force is considering increasing its number of drones to five, deployed at different locations across Devon and Cornwall.