Lincolnshire Police drone unit reports busy January
The police force, based in northeast England, reported that they deployed their drone fleet more than 80 times in January 2023
Lincolnshire Police said that the deployments represent over 36 hours of operational flying time for the month.
Of the 80 deployments made, 17 were to support search operations for missing people, while 14 were for suspect searches. Across both types of ‘search’ mission, the average flying time was 25 minutes.
The Lincolnshire Police’s drone fleet also supported officers deployed with firearms a total of 14 times – with an average time in the air of 50 minutes per incident.
The police force has been making increased use of drones across the county. Speaking to local newspaper the (is ‘the’ part of the title of the paper? If so, uppercase t and italics) Grantham Journal, Chief Superintendent Paul Timmins, Head of Central Operations said: “With the force investing in this area, with the creation of a Chief Drone Pilot post, and new drone technology, we are seeing amazing results.
“The training in-house and the community engagement carried out by our Chief Drone Pilot is having a positive impact on both our policing priorities, and educating our communities, in the safe use of drones,” he added.
The current Chief Drone Pilot of Lincolnshire Police’s UAV Unit is Sergeant Kevin Taylor.
Drone technology is becoming increasingly widespread in all forms of emergency response. The market for firefighting drones alone is expected to reach $8.98 billion by 2033.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at the Voyageur Group. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.