Drones help target criminals and locate missing people in Cambridgeshire

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Published: 16:00, 29 July 2021

| Updated: 16:50, 29 July 2021

Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s new drones have been used, among other things, to target criminals, identify cannabis factories and locate missing people.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary has invested in three new drones

The force’s Rural Crime Team invested in three of the machines last summer which have since been deployed to assist with 225 incidents. They have flown for more than 66 hours helping to catch hare coursers, identify stolen property, gather intelligence and assist with scene preservation. Recently, they were used to locate a missing 15-year-old girl who they found on the train tracks in Manea.

PC Sam Thompson, from the team, said: “The drones have proven to be an invaluable addition to the force helping to keep the county safe by targeting criminals and locating vulnerable people. They are often more accessible than the helicopter and cheaper, saving the force around £500,000 a year.

“We’ve just invested in a new drone which will give us 16 times greater thermal resolution, 32 times zoom and 16 times thermal zoom meaning we’ll be able to catch and locate even more people.”

The drones are fitted with high-definition cameras and thermal imaging technology and give officers a mobile eye in the sky meaning they can scan large areas in a very short time. Eight officers are trained to use the drones which can be legally flown to a maximum height of 400ft (120m), a limit which is set by the CAA so drones do not interfere with aircraft which operate above 1,000ft.