Drone Use in Fighting Crime - GAO Tek (2024)

Overview of Drone Use in Fighting Crime

Drones are commonly seen in a lot of spy movies to make it look more futuristic. However, it is relatively close to reality. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones can be incredibly helpful in preventing and solving crimes. According to Rand Paul, who examined the FBI’s use of drone technology since late 2006, the FBI has conducted surveillance using UAVs in eight criminal cases and two national security cases. So, it is hard to deny a drone’s possible astounding future in criminal investigations.

Drones can be applied for criminal surveillance and pursuit, search parties, crime scene analysis, and bomb investigations.

In this way, physical store retailers and online retailers are deriving substantial benefits from drones by applying them to delivery services, transportation, security, inventory management, observing customer behaviour, marketing photography, and assisting in shopping during daily operations of retail.

Criminal Surveillance, Pursuit and Search Parties

When someone is missing or on the run, there is a high demand in people because they need to cover a vast amount of territory to find someone. However, this is tiring, time-consuming, and inaccurate. The utilization of drone technology for this task would be better and more rational as drones can cover more territory in a shorter frame time than people.

Moreover, drones can look in places not accessible for officers on the ground, cars, or helicopters. Due to their small size and quiet engines, UAVs can fly unnoticed by narrow streets or check the windows. Also, while drones are searching for someone, only a couple of people are needed to monitor the process instead of a hundred. Hard to deny that this will make the whole searching more efficient.

Crime Scene Analysis and Bomb Investigation

Furthermore, drones can not only fly and search for someone, but they are also incredibly useful in collecting forensic evidence at the crime scene. There can be blood, dust, footprints, fingerprints at the crime scene, and they are uncompromised when drones are getting excessive and accurate information about the crime scene. Drones, equipped with a camera, can take shots of the scene that forensic specialists will later use in their analyses. So, perhaps it would be convenient to send a drone in to scan the crime scene without disturbing it and only let people in afterwards.

Moreover, drone technology can be remarkably helpful with bomb disposal as the drone can be flown over a device to take its pictures and thus improve the bomb technicians’ work.

Surveying Hostage Situations

In situations where human life is on stake and time is limited, drones become handy. With surveillance and thermal sensors cameras, they can quickly survey the perimeter of the building, identify all possible entrances and exits, and provide data on the number of hostages.

Additionally, instead of sending police officers inside and risk their lives, a drone can be sent in first to analyze the situation and report suspicious movements, the number of weapons and perps present on the premise. This way, the police could not only prevent harm to officers but also better prepare them for operation, allowing them to think over their actions.