LONDON—Merseyside Police Authority in North West England proudly announced earlier this month how they had apprehended a fugitive running in fog from a stolen car in the first arrest made with the help of a flying drone.
A heat-imaging camera mounted on a rotor-bladed Air Robot the size of a hubcap had tracked a 16-year-old male into bushes after he fled a stolen car.
But it was the only arrest the drone was to assist, grounded soon after, when authorities realized it had no license.
But the controversial drones may yet get universal clearance throughout European civil airspace if government-funded research is able to find a solution in satellite technology.
After a press statement on Feb. 12 about the first arrest with the aid of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Merseyside Police have had to make it clear that these machines will not be used until accredited by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
On Jan. 1 the CAA had changed its rulings concerning UAVs, but Merseyside Police had not noticed.
The restrictions of the new statutory regulations are in line with European airspace rules.
But a study being done for the European Defense Agency, says communication via satellites could handle UAV flights.
European aerospace corporation, European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS), hopes to show public experiments next year, which demonstrate how the drones can be flown safely throughout European airspace via satellite linkups.
The grounding of the drones has been welcomed by civil rights organizations that are still concerned about the future. Dylan Sharpe, campaign director at Big Brother Watch (BBW), wrote on the BBW Web site: “This is a very worrying development. We are already watched by more CCTV cameras than any other country on earth without the state surveillance network expanding into the skies above us.
“What is of most concern is that the privacy aspect is being completely ignored. The problem, it seems, is that the CAA thinks UAVs are dangerous because they have no pilot; yet no one is asking whether these drones are actually necessary or a dangerously intrusive next step on the road to a surveillance state?”
The battery-powered drone has a top speed of 30 mph with a ceiling of 400 feet and comes with flashing police lights. It can be assembled in a few minutes and can be controlled from about 1,500 feet away by one officer using video specs, which look like those of Geordi La Forge from Star Trek. Direct sight of the UAV is unnecessary as its whereabouts can be monitored onscreen.
The AR100B aerial drone is made by Air Robot U.K. and costs £40,000 (US$61,700). Its nonmilitary use can extend to helping farmers manage crops, backing ambulance crews and fire fighters, as well as tracking illegal garbage dumping and unsafe driving offenders.
The authorities hope to use the machines to help police during the 2012 Olympics in London. Derbyshire Police used a spybot to monitor a British National Party event in August last year.
The Air Robot U.K. Web site says of the AR100B, “It is possible for us to manufacture custom payloads to suit your requirements.
“The silent operation and size of the platform allows aerial surveillance to be carried out in built-up residential urban areas as well as rural locations without causing any disturbances.
“The unit can also ‘perch and stare’ from a solid platform allowing the operator to capture hours of footage from an out of view vantage point.”
The Merseyside Police Authority is one of three forces using UAVs.
A heat-imaging camera mounted on a rotor-bladed Air Robot the size of a hubcap had tracked a 16-year-old male into bushes after he fled a stolen car.
But it was the only arrest the drone was to assist, grounded soon after, when authorities realized it had no license.
But the controversial drones may yet get universal clearance throughout European civil airspace if government-funded research is able to find a solution in satellite technology.
After a press statement on Feb. 12 about the first arrest with the aid of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Merseyside Police have had to make it clear that these machines will not be used until accredited by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
On Jan. 1 the CAA had changed its rulings concerning UAVs, but Merseyside Police had not noticed.
The restrictions of the new statutory regulations are in line with European airspace rules.
But a study being done for the European Defense Agency, says communication via satellites could handle UAV flights.
European aerospace corporation, European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS), hopes to show public experiments next year, which demonstrate how the drones can be flown safely throughout European airspace via satellite linkups.
The grounding of the drones has been welcomed by civil rights organizations that are still concerned about the future. Dylan Sharpe, campaign director at Big Brother Watch (BBW), wrote on the BBW Web site: “This is a very worrying development. We are already watched by more CCTV cameras than any other country on earth without the state surveillance network expanding into the skies above us.
“What is of most concern is that the privacy aspect is being completely ignored. The problem, it seems, is that the CAA thinks UAVs are dangerous because they have no pilot; yet no one is asking whether these drones are actually necessary or a dangerously intrusive next step on the road to a surveillance state?”
The battery-powered drone has a top speed of 30 mph with a ceiling of 400 feet and comes with flashing police lights. It can be assembled in a few minutes and can be controlled from about 1,500 feet away by one officer using video specs, which look like those of Geordi La Forge from Star Trek. Direct sight of the UAV is unnecessary as its whereabouts can be monitored onscreen.
The AR100B aerial drone is made by Air Robot U.K. and costs £40,000 (US$61,700). Its nonmilitary use can extend to helping farmers manage crops, backing ambulance crews and fire fighters, as well as tracking illegal garbage dumping and unsafe driving offenders.
The authorities hope to use the machines to help police during the 2012 Olympics in London. Derbyshire Police used a spybot to monitor a British National Party event in August last year.
The Air Robot U.K. Web site says of the AR100B, “It is possible for us to manufacture custom payloads to suit your requirements.
“The silent operation and size of the platform allows aerial surveillance to be carried out in built-up residential urban areas as well as rural locations without causing any disturbances.
“The unit can also ‘perch and stare’ from a solid platform allowing the operator to capture hours of footage from an out of view vantage point.”
The Merseyside Police Authority is one of three forces using UAVs.
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