EYE IN THE SKY
Drones to be used as police first responders & crimes to be reported by video call, Hunt says as he gives £230m to cops
The first drone tests are due to be carried out in Norfolk in the coming months
DRONES are set to be used as police first responders and people will be able to report crimes via video call, Jeremy Hunt has announced.
The Chancellor unveiled the groundbreaking plans today in a bid to prevent cops wasting time on "unnecessary admin", as he pledged £230million for new policing technology in the Budget.
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He said: "Police officers waste around 8 hours a week on unnecessary admin – with higher productivity, we could free up time equivalent to 20,000 officers over a year.
"So we will spend £230million rolling out time and money saving technology which speeds up police response time by allowing people to report crimes by video call and where appropriate use drones as first responders."
Plans for trials where drones respond to emergencies were unveiled by police chiefs in November, with the first tests due to be carried out in Norfolk in the coming months.
If testing is successful, the devices would be stationed on buildings and operated remotely to be sent first to scenes to give police early information.
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Spring Budget at a glance
- Fuel duty will be frozen and the 5p cut extended for a year
- Alcohol duty will be frozen until February next year
- National insurance was cut by an additional 2p
- An extension of the Household Support Fund for the fifth time
- Households on Universal Credit will get an extra year to repay emergency loans from the Government
- A new tax on vapes, which will cause prices to rise
- A one-off new tax on fags to ensure they are more expensive than the electronic alternative
- The high income child benefit charge was raised from £50,000 to £60,000
While initial trials, under a scheme dubbed Project Eagle X, will take place in Norfolk, further trials are planned for Thames Valley Police and Hampshire.
Norfolk is one force in England and Wales that has limited access to the helicopters flown by the National Police Air Service because they are stationed so far away.
Police in England and Wales are working with officers in the US as similar trials have taken place in San Diego.
The hope is the drone would give more accurate information on the potential scale of an incident than a shocked member of the public who has called 999, and get there more quickly than a helicopter.
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Currently, police forces in England and Wales use about 400 drones that cannot be flown out of the operator's line of sight.
Plans are in place to amend those rules to allow police operators to fly them over greater distances, with initial trials taking place in areas with closed-off airspace later this year.
Budget highlights: Brits boosted by £450 tax cut & child benefit overhaul as Hunt freezes alcohol and fuel duties in giveaway Budget
Alan Pughsley, who worked on a Home Office-commissioned national review of policing productivity, said technological advances could also help with tasks including redacting documents for use in court, and Rapid Video Response, where officers speak to victims via video call instead of attending in person.
He said: "We're pleased the work of our independent team has highlighted the huge time savings that could be achieved through better use of technology - time that could be spent attending more burglaries, more cases of domestic abuse, more incidents of antisocial behaviour.
"The Policing Productivity Review has found that technology can enable the acceleration of existing tasks - such as redacting documents for use in court - and provide less resource-intensive ways of delivering services, for example by Rapid Video Response, something that has been well-received by victims of domestic abuse.
"Around 97 per cent of today's science and technology investment in policing is spent on maintaining existing systems.
"There is a balance to be struck between ensuring these tools are fit for purpose and making the most of new innovations.
"Policing cannot afford to fall behind in this area which is why today's funding announcement is so important."
The Chancellor also said £170million would be used to fund "non-court resolution, reduce reoffending and digitise the court process".
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And he pledged £75million to roll out violence reduction units and hotspot policing across the country.
Hunt said the spending review would prioritise schemes that would make annual savings within the next five years, equal to the total cost of the measure.
UK drone laws
Here's what every drone owner needs to know to avoid getting in trouble – and potentially being fined.
What are the drone laws in the UK?
New rules came in for drone flying last year - and they're about to get that much more punitive.
From November 30, 2019, anyone wanting to fly the gadgets will have to take an online theory test to show they can do so "safely and legally".
If they don't, they can face a fine of up to £1,000 under new regulations from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The registration scheme opened on November 5, 2019, and applies to anyone responsible for a drone or unmanned aircraft such as a model plane weighing at least 250g.
Registrants are given a unique ID which must be displayed on their devices.
Any drone that weighs over 250g – pretty much anything but the smallest toys – is covered by the scheme.
What are the other rules?
Once you're registered or have a licence, there are still a host of rules to follow, as follows:
- Drones must fly below an altitude of 400ft
- Drones that weigh more than 250g will need to be formally registered with the CAA
- Drone pilots must be able to present their registration documents when asked to do so by police
- Make sure your drone is within 500m of you horizontally.
- Always fly well away from aircraft, helicopters, airports, and airfields.
- If it is fitted with a camera, make sure it is at least 50m away from a person, vehicle, building or structure not owned or controlled by the pilot.
- Camera-equipped drones must not be flown within 150m of a congested area of a large group of people.
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