Police to use drones to get to crime scenes faster says Jeremy Hunt

06 March 2024 , 16:59

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Police are set to use drones as first responders, Jeremy Hunt announced (Image: PA)

Police will use drones as first responders so they can get to crime scenes faster, Jeremy Hunt has announced.

Forces are set to trial the new technology, which would see the remote controlled devices dispatched to gather info. The Chancellor also said that people who call 101 to report a crime could first deal with an automated service.

He claimed too much time is being wasted on "unnecessary admin" as he vowed to plough cash into technology to save time and money. Mr Hunt said people will be able to report crimes by video message.

The Chancellor told the Commons: "Police officers waste around 8 hours a week on unnecessary admin – with higher productivity, we could free up time equivalent to 20,000 officers over a year.

"So we will spend £230million rolling out time-and-money-saving technology which speeds up police response time by allowing people to report crimes by video call and where appropriate use drones as first responders."

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Budget documents said a new Centre for Police Productivity will help forces to bring in new technologies. The Treasury said: "Committing £230 million to deliver pilot schemes of police technology like facial recognition, automating the triage of 101 calls and deploying drones as first responders to enable police officers to spend more time on the frontline tackling crime."

Police chiefs have welcomed the use of drones to respond to crimes, under a scheme known as Project Eagle X. Norfolk Police is set to be one of the first forces to give it a go.

In November, when the project was announced, Neil Sexton, who advises the National Police Chiefs' Council on using drones, said: "The ability to get a remote aircraft overhead of an incident that is still developing to gain a better situational awareness [is] much improved over phone calls from members of the public who are under stress.

"Sitting overhead, it can tell you straight away whether you're talking about a major road traffic collision that requires three fire engines and four ambulances, or whether it's a minor prang and someone's getting over-excited."

Dave Burke