Drone team to be launched by Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
A number of Nottinghamshire officers have been training as drone pilots in preparation for the operational launch of a new drone team on Monday (January 6, 2020).
The drones are a Blue Light collaboration between Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service used to assist both agencies in a number of vital tasks.
The dedicated drone vehicle will be resourced by trained Police drone Pilots and will provide 24/7 coverage for both police and Fire colleagues to call upon via the Police control room Chief Inspector who will be responsible for assessing all requests and directing the drone vehicle to spontaneous incidents where authorised.
The Drone team will also have a diary function allowing for planned operations to be supported by an additional Drone unit without it impacting on the service being provided by the dedicated car to our frontline officers. During training, officers have been learning how to fly in various environments and in both day and night-time conditions to enable Nottinghamshire to have a 24/7 coverage.
PC Vince Saunders, who has been training the drone pilots, said: "Being able to get a drone team together is fantastic and I've no doubt they will be a great asset to various operations and tasks required of the force.
"Having had an interest in drones for a number of years, for me personally it is brilliant to be able to be involved with the new team and show how their capabilities can be used to aid us in our work."
Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: "We're very pleased to be able to introduce drones into our work as a force and make the most of their capabilities.
"I am very much looking forward to seeing the benefits that this technology will have for our officers in a number of areas of police work, and I want to thank everyone involved for their hard work on bringing this team to fruition."
Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “This is good news for our communities and will help these two emergency services to be in the right place at the right time. The ‘eye in the sky’ will help to find missing people, deter and track down offenders, as well as providing greater coverage in more remote areas.
“People have told me that they were keen to see drones helping the police with their work so I was pleased that my budget for 2019/20 included this investment in technology.”
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