Londoners who place a 999 call will soon have their emergency attended by a flying drone under a new trial being conducted by the Metropolitan Police.
The Met has launched a trial drone programme to support police officers responding to emergencies, aiming to improve their response time and the information available to them before arriving at the stie of an emergency.
In response to a 999 call, a drone pilot by specially trained operators will be launched from the Met’s nearest control room and will arrive at the scene within two minutes.
These drones will not directly intervene in an emergency. Instead, they will stream footage to the control room which will help assist and inform the response of officers arriving later on the scene.
The Met said these drones would be used in a variety of situations, including searching for missing people, tracing suspects, or capturing video evidence at the scene of an incident.
Compared to existing police helicopters, these new drones are quicker, quieter, and cheaper to operate, and the Met said that if this trial is successful, they will form an important part of its arsenal going forward.
The drone programme trial has initially rolled out in Islington and will be expanded to cover the West End and Hyde Park before the end of the year.
“Our Drone as First Responder programme will see police resources arriving at crime scenes across London quicker,” said national lead for drones Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor.
“They will assist in tracing suspects, locating missing people and delivering intelligence to our officers as they respond to Londoners when they need us most.”
“We are building a Met that is more precise and efficient than ever before, and this new technology gives us a vital new tool to tackle crime in the capital.”
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