Drones ‘could revolutionise policing’ commissioner says
Philip Wilkinson wants to end a National Police Air Service contract to free up the cash to invest in drone technology
Investment in drone technology could revolutionise policing in Wiltshire, the county’s police and crime commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, has said.
In an exclusive interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Wilkinson said he wanted Wiltshire Police to leave its £700,000 a year contract with the National Police Air Service (NPAS), and invest in a fleet of drones instead.
Mr Wilkinson said the NPAS contract gave him access to a helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, but the force had to pay for them whether they were used or not.
The helicopter is based in Bournemouth and the fixed-wing aircraft in the East Midlands, meaning they are sometimes scrambled to an incident which is over before they arrive.
But the force is tied into an indefinite contract government contract with no end date – and the only person who can release them is the new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
Mr Wilkinson is on the board of the National Police Air Service, where he represents all five PCCs in the South West – Wiltshire, Devon & Cornwall, Avon & Somerset, Dorset, and Gloucestershire. Half of the forces, he said, want to be released from the contract.
He said he had been lobbying the former home secretary, Yvette Cooper, about the matter, and before that, the Conservatives’ last home secretary, James Cleverly.
“This contract was drawn up in the pre-drone era,” said Mr Wilkinson.
“We can now deliver most of our air support missions using our own drones, which are launched from the boots of officers’ cars.
“If I could invest in drones I’d have a really enhanced police aviation support system.”
Drones – some as small as a piece of A4 paper, the largest as big as a coffee table – can serve a number of uses.
Camera technology can spot and read car number plates, while heat-seeking technology can help find missing people or suspects in hiding. Drones can also locate mobile phones – useful in locating people who are lost or in need of assistance.
Drones can also provide an ‘eye in the sky’ service, watching houses during a police raid, or providing surveillance where CCTV is unavailable – whether that be in cities and towns, or in remote areas when officers are looking for hare coursers.
Because they are small and quiet, they are less likely to disturb residents, or to provoke crowds. They can also keep police officers safe monitoring, for instance, pubs during football matches rather than posting an officer outside each door.
The force already has 36 drones, which are deployed three or four times a day. Every specialist response team has been allocated a drone and pilot. The drones themselves are affordable – two or three thousand pounds for the smaller units, £15,000 for the largest ones.
Mr Wilkinson is also pushing for a change in civil aviation rules.
He said: “At the moment, the pilot has to have ‘line of site’ of the done.
“The National Police Council is looking at an idea called ‘drone as a first responder,’ which would revolutionise policing.
“You put a drone station on top of a high building in a town centre and the pilot would be able to lift and fly that drone from a command centre – and get to an incident long before officers on the ground.
“We would then deploy the right resources to tackle whatever the activity is, because we have eyeballs on the target.
“At the moment we get a report and deploy two or three teams, whereas if we knew what the true extent of the threat was we would deploy just enough resource to manage it.”
And Mr Wilkinson would like to see those drones built in Britain. “China leads the way in drone technology, but we’re catching up,” he said.
“I have had talks with Tekever, who are bringing their manufacturing facility to Swindon. They already have government contracts, and that gives me more strength to go to the Home Office and move this forward.
“Some of the most advanced drone systems are going to be built in Swindon, and that’s why I’m determined to have British drones for British police forces.”
And it is not just drone technology that Wiltshire Police is embracing to become a force fit for the 21st century.
Artificial intelligence is helping command centre staff to ‘triage’ 999 calls.
“When reports come in to the call centre AI can help log, prioritise, and make deployment decisions very quickly,” said Mr Wilkinson.
The force recently won a competition in New York for its adoption of AI and robotics.
“Wiltshire Police is setting a national benchmark for intelligent automation, saving £1.11 million in the first year and freeing up 27.6 full time employees to focus on frontline policing,” the judges noted.
“With 23 processes planned by 2025, they’ve scaled at record pace, achieving full Return On Investment in just six months.”
Mr Wilkinson said that as well as improving public services, embracing new technologies would help the force to adapt to an ongoing squeeze on finances.
He recently told members of Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council: “Without extra funding I can no longer, hand on heart, tell you that we can provide the same level of service.”
Wiltshire receives less funding per head than any other county police force: £127 per resident compared with a national average of £164.
“I’m looking for silver bullets,” Mr Wilkinson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“Wiltshire Police is embracing new technology, and it’s really satisfying to see innovation coming out of Wiltshire.”
Police chiefs open to exploring technology boosts
Wiltshire's Chief of Police, Catherine Roper, said she and her counterparts across the south west are committed to innovation within policing.
While she is open to exploring how aviation capabilities within the Force are modernised, the Chief Constable said it must be "in line with operational needs and value for money".
She stressed her priority is achieving the best possible service to Wiltshire's communities.
Chief Roper added: “We remain committed to supporting helicopter operations as required under the current collaboration agreement and we will continue to engage constructively in ongoing discussions to support the national police reform efforts.”