[NYTr] Brits Begin Using Drones for Domestic Spying

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Guardian - Aug 21, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2153077,00.html

Eye in the sky: police use drone to spy on V festival

Suspicious behaviour monitored from above 

Privacy fear as emergency services plan wider use 

By James Randerson, 
science correspondent

Police used a remote-controlled spy drone to watch crowds at the V
festival at the weekend, the first time the technology has been used at
a major public event.

The 70cm-wide flying surveillance device, fitted with high-resolution
still and colour video cameras as well as infrared night vision
capability, was used to keep tabs on people thought to be acting
suspiciously in car parks and to gather intelligence on individuals in
the crowd.

Staffordshire police said the drone's images did not lead directly to
any arrests, but one reason for using it had been to deter would-be
thieves. It was not flown over the main arena because of fears that a
crash might cause injuries.

The battery-operated drone's four carbon-fibre rotors are so quiet they
cannot be heard from the ground once it is higher than 50 metres, and
at 100 metres up it cannot be seen with the naked eye. It can fly 500
metres high, but the Civil Aviation Authority has set an operating
limit of 120 metres. The vehicle, which takes off vertically, can be
flown even when out of sight, because it beams images back to video
goggles worn by the operator.

Since May, Merseyside police have been using two drones - originally
developed by a German company for military use - to police public order
situations and prevent antisocial behaviour. One tactic is to fly the
drone over groups of young people causing a nuisance in parks. The
force has also used it for covert surveillance.

The West Midlands fire service plans to use drones to get a bird's eye
view of buildings on fire. "Being able to look down on the scene will
allow us to get a full picture of the incident and the surrounding
environment, which will aid incident commanders to make vital,
potentially life-saving decisions," said the deputy chief fire officer,
Vij Randeniya.

The Metropolitan police is interested in using drones to police the
Olympics. Firearms officers also believe they could be useful in a
standoff with armed criminals

MW Power, the company that distributes the technology in the UK, plans
to improve the drone's capability by adding a so-called "smart water"
spray - a liquid infused with unique artificial DNA sequences which can
be squirted on to a suspect from above. It infuses their clothes and
skin and the DNA code can be used later to identify them.

There is no legal barrier preventing a private security firm or a
paparazzo photographer from using the technology, but MW Power said
that it was only licensing the vehicle to customers from the military
or emergency services. It costs less than #1,000 a month to lease - an
amount that would buy less than an hour's use of a conventional
helicopter.

Some experts fear it represents an unwarranted intrusion of privacy. "We
should find out whether the public wants this," said Noel Sharkey, an
expert in robotics at Sheffield University who is worried about the
increasing use of robotic vehicles in military conflicts and policing.
While most people would support its use to catch car thieves, the
technology could be put to more draconian uses in future, he said.

"How long will it be before someone gets Tasered from the air for
dropping litter, or even for relieving themselves down an alleyway
under cover of night?"