Call for more police crime-fighting drones in Sheffield skies

Drones are an important new weapon in the fight against crime, says one Sheffield councillor.

Coun Ian Horner, a member of Sheffield City Council who also sits on the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, said he had been impressed by a demonstration of the use of drones in police work.

He told a meeting of the council’s South East Local Area Committee (LAC) yesterday (March 6) that he is urging South Yorkshire Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Oliver Coppard to invest in a second drone.

Coun Horner chaired a session of the LAC that had a theme of crime and community safety and anti-social behaviour. Members of the public from the Woodhouse, Birley, Beighton and Mosborough council wards discussed their crime concerns with the neighbourhood policing team, council staff and other organisations.

Issues raised included shoplifting targeting local shops, anti-social behaviour by young people and adults including street drinkers, open sales of drugs on streets, car thefts, arson, speeding cars and the nuisance caused by e-bikes, scooters and other off-road vehicles.

Many people said they did not feel safe going out at night, especially if they had to walk to bus and tram stops.

Coun Horner told the meeting: “Just after it was purchased, the drone helped in what one might term a drug bust.

“It is easy for people to grow cannabis and other products to mask the smell. It is not easy to disguise the heat that comes off and the drone was toddling along, doing whatever it was doing, and it spied a heat source.

“It is also very, very useful with all these speeding bikes. The police have a problem chasing speeding bikes, not just because they cut off into alleyways – they also have to be careful because of the risk to other members of the public if there is a high-speed pursuit.”

He explained that drones are hard to spot in the sky, so someone speeding might not even know they were being tracked by police.

Coun Horner said it is necessary to keep up with drone technology, especially because criminals certainly will.

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