Drone Unit
What are drones/UAVs?
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft without a human pilot on board. The term UAV covers a wide range of systems from the small children’s’ toy to large military systems. UAVs are most often referred to as ‘drones’ and this is how we in the emergency services refer to them.
What types of drones do Merseyside Police use?
We currently operate a few different drone models across Merseyside. As drone technology advances, we aim to ensure we have the most up-to-date drones to best meet our needs and therefore the types of drones we operate will change over time.
Our drones are small battery-powered rotor systems. Commonly known as quad or ‘hexacopters’ they are powered by four or six electric motors. They take off and land vertically like helicopters.
How much do they cost?
Our drones cost between £2500 and £30,000. We buy our drones through the police national procurement framework. This means our drones are supplied by different companies who have all been vetted to a national standard.
How many drone pilots do we have?
We currently have seven pilots across Merseyside to maintain a drone capability for much of the year.
Our pilots are trained to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) standard and must complete a minimum of two hours flying every three months to maintain their permission to fly.
What cameras do they carry?
Our drones have the option of carrying the following cameras:
- Dual daylight/thermal camera
- Daylight HD camera
What are we using them for?
We are using drones to:
- Search for missing people and wanted suspects
- Assist with investigations into road traffic collisions, major crimes and industrial accidents
- Support event planning and traffic management, for example preparing for the Aintree Grand National Festival
- Provide aerial images to officers on the ground and to commanders in the control room during any spontaneous or pre-planned incident or event, for example a football match or a large fire or motorway crash
What we are not using them for:
Our drones are only deployed for specific operational tasks and are not used for general patrol. They are not patrolling the skies Merseyside and are not a like for like alternative to a police helicopter.
How do we think drones will help us?
Using drones will help us:
- Use our resources more effectively by having the right resources in the right place at the right time to resolve incidents quickly
- Improve the safety of the public and emergency service workers by deploying a drone into situations which would otherwise involve risks to individuals
- Provide good quality evidence to assist in the apprehension and prosecution of offenders
- Enhance joint working with other emergency services.
Do we have to comply with existing regulation and legislation?
Yes. We need to work within the existing legislation and regulation in respect of drone use. We operate in accordance with our permission granted by the CAA. All our pilots are qualified remote pilots having passed a CAA accredited training course and we are fully insured and registered as an operator with the CAA. For more information visit the Civil Aviation Authority website.
Our operator ID is: GBR-OP-JMYHKKQH4TRT
What about Privacy and Data Protection?
We work closely with the Information Commissioners Office and the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner to develop specific Data Protection Impact Assessments for our use of drones and a self-assessment document to test compliance against the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice.
We are aware of recent concerns over security of data obtained by certain types of drones and comply with national guidelines for mitigating potential data vulnerabilities of drones.
We use the same processes for storing images taken by our drones as we do for other digital evidence such as footage from our officers’ body-worn video cameras.