Long distance drones could patrol the skies above Hampshire
Police seek to fly drones to incidents by remote control
Last updated 5th Sep 2023
Police in Hampshire are working on a project to use long-range drones to help them attend incidents faster and more efficiently.
At the moment drones can't be used if they go out of sight of the operator - but Police now have drones that can travel further and stay airborne for much longer.
They're working with safety regulators to gain permission to fly the drone 'out of sight' meaning they'd be able to pilot them from control rooms miles away from where the drone is flying.
Inspector Guy Summers from the air support joint operations unit said:
"We're looking to fly beyond visual line of sight using detect and avoid systems to fly many kilometres.
"We can cover more area, we can see more it's just the ability to fly further and use less staff.
"And it also ties in with our drone in a box which we'd look to put on the roofs of buildings in the future, not now, to be able to have a response to an incident quickly and give us the best information so we can send the best resources."
Another idea is to permanently station drones on town centre roof tops across Hampshire.
The so-called 'drones in a box' would be controlled from Police control rooms miles away and launched to fly above incidents so pictures can be beamed back to help Police decide on what resources to deploy on the ground.
All of this is for the future but Police say it would allow them to use their limited resources more efficiently and save money on expensive flying time for helicopters.
One way or another it would seem drones are likely to play an ever increasing role in the future of policing.