HAVE been wondering whether our authorities truly understand where they are taking us (relax, this is not about the current national preoccupation!). I refer of course to their gung ho policy on drones. The proliferation of recreational drones will be an inevitable byproduct of the government’s policy of generally promoting them as an exemplar of the UK’s technical prowess and industrial strategy. Drones, it seems, are an important part of ‘unlocking the UK’s high-tech economy’. I fully accept that the valuable contribution made by commercial drones should be encouraged and supported, not least innovative applications in insurance, the emergency services and protecting the community. There could also be a case for delivery of trinkets by Amazon if services can be managed and substitute for traffic. But why does the same encouragement


need to be extended to recreational drones, if their inevitable proliferation creates safety and security risks, and unwanted demands on police, at a time when they have quite enough on their plate? It’s not as though the UK is known for its recreational drone manufacturing sector. The suppliers of top volume are Chinese, American and French. Early on in a recent Department


for Transport paper on the future of drones, we learn of ‘the potential benefits’ that they can bring to the UK, but later read of an increase in the criminal use of drones, and that the ‘prospective threat to public events is … significant ‘. How have we sleepwalked into needlessly putting communities at risk when there is no obvious economic benefit for the country? Late in the day, action is now being taken


to mitigate careless, reckless or criminal use of recreational drones. Recognising that the law is impossibly complicated, the authorities have developed a Drone Code safety awareness campaign, while limits on


Viewpoint I


Mike Jay, convenor of the RISCAuthority security group, shares his views on the growing challenges around drones


altitude and flying near aerodromes have been tightened. Next year recreational users will have to register and pass a test of competence, and ‘consultations’ have recently taken place on fixed penalty fines and counter drone technology. But the genie is already out of the bottle. Earlier this year RISCAuthority members


received a bulletin on business risks posed by drones. This speculated that ‘…the drone may well come to be seen as an effective weapon by criminals and terrorists’. The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure’s website identifies the threat whilst conspicuously avoiding any detail, but a recent Pool Re report on terrorism speculates on the potential for a drone attack on a crowded place, and refers to a Daesh communication encouraging fighters to try using ‘toy drones with small explosives’ – recreational drones, in other words. Recently, you probably saw the dramatic


footage of the attempt to assassinate the Venezuelan head of state using two drones, each carrying 1kg of C-4 explosive and injuring seven soldiers, with parading military running in panic in all directions. This will not have gone unnoticed by those inspiring and directing international terrorism. Terrorism aside, it is hard to see, as things


stand, how the police could protect us from the incessant nuisance of countless drones overhead, with inevitable collisions placing the public at risk. An outright ban on recreational drones may never have been realistic, but I suggest that much tougher control through licensing, and use only within designated fly zones, would help reduce the social angst and excessive policing costs we have to look forward to. Or is this just the droning on of a sad killjoy?


Mike Jay is convenor of RISCAuthority’s security group. For more information, view page 5


www.frmjournal.com OCTOBER 2018 1


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