Police Drones & UAV
UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are used by law enforcement for a variety of tasks as they are cheaper to operate and quicker to deploy than manned helicopters, and can also fly in tighter spaces or over crowds.
Types of Drones used in Law Enforcement
Tethered drones for police surveillance – Where UAVs may be required to hover persistently in one location, they can be deployed as part of a tethered drone system, which uses the attached cable to provide long-term power as well as communications and control.
Multirotors – capable of VTOL (vertical take off and Landing) quadcopters and other multirotor drones (hexacopters, octocopters) are often used by law enforcement teams as they can be quickly deployed and require little space to launch and land.
Some multirotors can even enter buildings with the aid of glass-breaker attachments, in order to search for suspects or victims. They can have a self-righting function which enables the drone to flip-over and regain flight. Operators may be able to talk to other people via the drone by using two-way communications.
Fixed-wing and unmanned helicopter drones – capable of extended flight-times fixed-wing UAVs and single-rotor drones are often chosen by law enforcement for long-range surveillance missions such as coastal and border control.