By Floro Mercene
Drones are fast becoming an essential tool for more law enforcement agencies. The remote-controlled flying machines have been deployed to bust up a ring stealing bulldozers and backhoes from construction sites, or to patrol beaches for sharks, and to scan neighborhoods for survivors in hurricane zones.
According to a study released this year by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York, the number of police, sheriff, fire and emergency agencies in the States with drones doubled in 2016, with nearly 350 departments having them as of last year. Almost half were in places with fewer than 50,000 people, the study found.
“For a lot of small, rural departments, it is a big change,” said the center.
Now that drones are incredibly affordable and powerfully sophisticated, just about anyone can use one as a tool – and it so happens that even criminals use drowns how to improve their methods. Drones have been used for the illegal transportation of contraband such as phones, drugs, and porn into numerous federal prisons across the United States over the past 5 years, according to a report.
As the market for recreational and commercial drones keeps growing, so does the need for regulation and safety measures. A private company is coming up with a “drone-hunting drone.” These drone-interceptors are being designed with a focus on identifying drones, analyzing their trajectories, and ultimately capturing them without a human operator involved. This can be extremely useful in case a commercial drone malfunctions, or when consumers want to regulate the airspace of their private property. But perhaps most importantly, these drone-hunters could potentially be used in foiling a drone-centric terrorist attack.
