Crime

A police force in the UK has contracted Centrik to manage its drone programme, using the operational management system to improve efficiency and help its officers “spend less time on administration and more time policing”. The West Midlands Police drone programme – working closely with the National Police Air Service (NPAS) – provides 24/7 unmanned aerial support to an area of 348 square miles, home to more than 2.8 million people. With the unit attending more than 2,000 incidents in 2020 alone, West Midlands Police needed a powerful, intuitive system capable of managing the complexities involved in operating 32 pilots

The Pentagon is investigating after a drone was spotted near President Trump’s Air Force One. Reports suggest that people aboard saw a drone just below the plane. Fox News reported on how the Air Force is now investigating whether the reports are true. Air Force one went on to land safely at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C on Sunday. The White House confirmed the incident happened when Trump was returning from his golf resort in Bedminster. A statement from the Air Force unit said: “The 89th Airlift Wing is aware of the report. The matter is under review. The

Parliament will today hear the second reading of the bill which will give police powers to land, inspect and seize unmanned aircraft using counter-drone technology.

Unidentified swarms of up to 30 drones with six-foot wingspans have been reported almost every night in the past two weeks

There is currently a danger zone flight risk warning in place to ensure that pilots avoid the area between Eastbourne and Margate

The CAA estimates that there are 90,000 drone users in the UK, meaning 50,000 are still at risk of the fine.

The autonomous drone system flies a set of pre-defined routes to monitor for security and fire risks.

Lancashire Police Tactical Operations division reported that its drone team aided in locating an offender following a pursuit in Blackburn. Through the use of infrared imaging, the drone team was able to uncover the location of the offender following reports of two people having made off from their car after a chase. The drone team at Lancashire Police used an Aeryon SkyRanger equipped with a thermal camera for the pursuit. The Lancashire Police team took to Twitter to unveil thermal imaging from the drone showing the situation as it unfolded. https://twitter.com/LancsTacOps/status/1186072567674740742 https://www.commercialdroneprofessional.com/south-west-police-forces-use-centrik-to-effectively-manage-drone-operations/

The UK government has set out its plan to modernise airspace to make the use of drone technology safer. The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill set out by the government will provide the Transport Secretary with new powers to force airports to modernise their airspace. Alongside providing police further powers to reduce illegal drone use, the new bill will attempt to improve the integration of drones into current air traffic. The government sees the new bill as an instrumental step in its attempts to ensure that professional drone operators, business and emergency services can harness the benefits of

A drone has spotted a man who was in hiding, ending his 17 years on-the-run. Police in south-West china used a drone to find the cave he was using as a hideout. According to a report from the BBC, the 63-year old, named Song Jiang, had been jailed for trafficking women and children but escaped from a prison camp in 2002. He had been living in a tiny cave cut off from human interaction for years. The report went on to detail how Yongshan police received clues about Song's whereabouts in early September. Those clues led them to the mountains