‘Drone as First Responder’ technology trialled by police on Isle of Wight

‘Drone as First Responder’ is a concept being developed and tested by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight Pathways Programme. ‘Drone as First Responder’ sees police drones launched and piloted remotely in order to provide a fast response to incidents, subsequently feeding back real-time information to police Control Rooms and operational units.

The trial at the Isle of Wight Festival created a simulated ‘Drone as First Responder’ capability in addition to the force’s routine police drones resource and witnessed a drone being flown from an IDI Automated Deployment System (essentially a remote box from which the drone is launched).

Pilot and National Police Chiefs’ Council project lead Chris Stagg led the experienced team running the trial, which was stationed at a temporary heliport set-up for the festival within a temporary restricted area.

In addition to the live view, the ‘Drone as First Responder’ capability was deployed in response to a request to check that road closures were correctly in place, freeing up officers on the ground to continue their public safety patrol duties.

Chris Stagg is part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Thames Valley Police Joint Operations Unit and is also the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight project lead. Stagg commented: “This was the first time we’ve been able to put the ‘Drone as First Responder’ technology to use in a live environment. It afforded us a great insight into just how effective it could be as part of a routine policing response in the near future, helping to keep people safe and providing a dynamic and responsive view of the situation on the ground.”