Drones - the impact on security Y
our view on drones - or UAVs (Unmanned Aviation Vehicles) as they are more
accurately known - may be coloured by your experience or your role, but there is no doubt they are currently making an impact on many aspects of modern life, including the world of security, with almost daily references to their increasing use.
Amazon delivery drones
The most recent application to hit the general media is the development of delivery drones by the world’s largest internet retailer Amazon, as reported in The Guardian in March 2015:
“The company wants to offer its customers the ability to have packages dropped on their doorstep by flying robots within 30 minutes of ordering goods online. With innovation in the drone sector reaching lightning speeds... the company’s formidable team of roboticists, software engineers, aeronautics experts and pioneers in remote sensing – including a former Nasa astronaut and the designer of the wingtip of the Boeing 787 – are now operating in British Columbia.”
Wide range of uses
It is easy to see why people want to use UAVs: they can be a lot cheaper and quieter than helicopters, decrease the risk of those involved and can stay up longer than the endurance of a person. This means their application spans many different commercial uses, such as documentary filming, wildlife photography, precision agriculture and aerial surveys. They can be particularly useful for hard-to-reach structures, such as flue stacks on oil rigs or remote locations.
The charity Mèdecins Sans Frontiere recently reported how it is using UAVs to provide medical support for people cut off by impassable roads and dangerous crocodile- filled rivers in Papua New Guinea, to provide quick diagnosis of TB. Operated from a smart phone, its UAVs can travel up to 37mph with a range of 20 miles to carry up to 10 TB test samples from patients.
16 © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – S P RING 2015
So it looks like UAVs are here to stay. Their use certainly polarises views and this is explored in a current exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the near-future use of drones in a city landscape. This includes a disturbing Nightwatchman surveillance drone tracking its objects through the streets.
Use by police
In reality, only a small number of police forces have begun to use UAVs, including Merseyside, West Midlands, Staffs and Essex. In March 2015, Sussex and Surrey Police reported that they have been awarded almost £250,000 to purchase five more UAVs as part of an ongoing trial.
This includes the use of a UAV at Gatwick Airport to see whether the equipment could provide a faster, safer and cheaper alternative to officer-led patrols in some circumstances.
Sussex and Surrey Police found that a UAV can cover a distance seven times quicker than officers on foot and can be used in conditions where it is unsafe for helicopters to fly or officers to go, such as smoky environments or when hazardous chemicals or materials have been spilled.
They believe that UAVs can be used to gather evidence from the air, such as at the scene of road, rail or air crashes, help with searches for missing or wanted people and to capture a broad picture of activities on the ground, such as the spread of flooding, the movement of people during public disorder or events at an armed incident.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry, whose portfolio includes the joint Operations department for Sussex and Surrey Police, said "Some of the benefits of the UAV system have already been demonstrated during the relatively short period that we have had the equipment for.
"This is not about providing cut-price policing but about using technology to enhance the way we work. UAVs could prove extremely useful during a range of incidents."
www. c i t y s e cur i t yma ga z ine . com
Drones and corporate security
With such a wide variety of uses and range of capability, it’s no surprise some security technology providers are keen to explore the use of UAVs and a number of applications have been in place for some time. In particular, those responsible for large estates and areas can find drones useful for enhancing remote surveillance. Nigel Arkwright, CTO at the Unipart Group, says, “Companies with CCTV monitoring are in the second wave of those to profit from the use of this technology after photography and film making. Any device with a camera is bound to spark privacy and we have all seen the media scare stories. Having CCTV trained and certified operatives proves a level of capability and training required for drone operators.”
Indeed, the increasing range of new uses can mean that those using UAVS are not generally those involved or experienced in aviation previously.
Regulating the use of UAVs
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for regulating the safety of UAVs, irrespective of your reason for them. Gerry Corbett from CAA wants to keep their use as safe as possible; he says, “Once you put something into air, it has to come down at some point – so it has the potential to fall and injure people.” For those wanting to use UAVs for commercial reasons, or “aerial work” as it is known in the CAA regulations, then under certain circumstances, they will require an operations manual, and a licence from the CAA which will include a range of conditions. These licences last up to a year. “Any commercial organisation offering this kind of aerial work as part of their service should be well aware of the licensing arrangements and their responsibilities in this area.”
What the regulations say about recreational use
The regulations for the flight of small, unmanned aircraft also apply to recreational model aircraft flyers. However, provided there is no aerial work taking place, and unmanned
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36