Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has hailed drones as "the future of policing" after the devices helped seize 130 illegal and dangerous off-road bikes in less than a year. The fleet is being used in place of the force helicopter because drones are cheaper to operate and more discreet.
Drones track suspects to their front door
In north Manchester alone, teams using the flying devices seized 130 illegal off-road bikes in under a year, with the drones able to follow suspects directly to their front door. Some of the drones, which cost between £6,000 and £30,000, can operate safely in storms, reach speeds of up to 40mph (64km/h), and are equipped with thermal imaging technology for use in the dark.
Insp Dan Pickavance, from GMP's North Manchester Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "All police forces can use drones – particularly in urban areas – and it means we can safely take illegal off-road bikes off the streets."
Expanding the drone fleet
"Using drones is without doubt the future of neighbourhood policing and this is an essential game-changer for us going forward," he added. Riding off-road bikes, scramblers, quads, or illegal e-motorbikes (like Sur-Rons) on public land, parks, pavements, and footpaths is completely illegal in the UK.
GMP is now expanding its fleet of waterproof drones, equipped with better cameras, and is also training more pilots on how to use them. Drone technology is regularly used to help policing at football matches, music festivals, when a vulnerable person is missing from home, to support the execution of arrest warrants, or following a serious motorway crash.
Pilots praise the technology
PC Tony Ashurst, a drone pilot for GMP, said: "In the last few years, the technology with the drones and the cameras has been advancing so much, so you've got to keep investing." He added: "I've been on the frontline for 20 years now, including on the firearms unit, and this is just a different way of policing."
Another GMP drone pilot, PC Jonathan Markham-Barwell, said: "I've been on this unit for less than three months and I'm astounded by the technology of these drones because they're small and they can't be seen in the sky." He added: "You can't get any better rewards than the jobs we're going to and I'm going home with a smile on my face because we're getting great results."
