Policing from Above: Drone Use by the Police

Abstract

Police work consists of (criminal) law enforcement, maintaining public order and rendering assistance to those who need it. An essential method for fulfilling these tasks is surveillance and observation. Drones, equipped with interchangeable payloads, are the next step in technological progress that can help law enforcement agencies in ways that were previously impossible. Observation by means of a drone equipped with a camera is an important, though not exclusive, focal point. This chapter has a predominantly exploratory approach: in a fictional situation where one is not limited by legal or other constraints, which practical applications could drones have for police work, now and in the foreseeable future? This chapter focuses on the different ways in which drones can “add value” to police work. Among others, the following perspectives are dealt with:

• Static observation (crowds, objects, crime scenes) versus dynamic observation (moving vehicles, suspects)

• Passive use of drones (different ways of gathering information, for instance drones with cameras) versus active use (influencing the public, for instance drones with features such as emitting light, sound or scent)

• Expectations (what do the police want to use drones for) versus possibilities (what is technologically possible).

• Examples of practical use of drones in the full spectrum of police work: (criminal) law enforcement, maintaining public order and rendering assistance to those who need it.

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads *

* Last line in the 1985 movie Back to the Future.

This chapter is written in a personal capacity. The authors want to thank Tjeerd Tiedemann and Sytse Algera (Dutch National Police) and Charlotte Nortier (staff of the Attorney-General in The Hague, “parket-generaal”) for their comments and suggestions.