Norfolk Police to pilot emergency 'first responder' drones

The officer lost control of the drone near Henley-on-Thames in April

Plans to use drones as first responders to emergencies will be trialled by a police force next year.

Dubbed Project Eagle X, initial trials will take place in Norfolk because of limited access to the helicopters flown by the National Police Air Service.

If successful, drones would be stationed on buildings and operated remotely to scenes to give the police early information.

Further tests will also take place with Thames Valley and Hampshire forces.

Similar trials have taken place in San Diego, USA, and other tests are set to take place in Belgium and the Netherlands.

About 400 drones are already in use across England and Wales but must be flown in the operator's line of sight

It is hoped the devices, known as "drones as first responders" (DFRs), would give more accurate information on the potential scale of an incident than a member of the public - and arrive more quickly than a helicopter.

'Situational awareness'

Neil Sexton, who advises the National Police Chiefs' Council on the use of drones, said: "DFR is a drone that sits autonomously on a roof somewhere in a city and it's in a box, it's protected.

"From a control station that receives a 999 call it can be launched completely remotely, flying overhead an incident to gain situational awareness that will be fed back not just to that control station or control room, but also to the first responders who are about to arrive on the ground."

"The ability to get a remote aircraft overhead an incident that is still developing to gain a better situational awareness [is] much improved over phone calls from members of the public who are under stress," Mr Sexton added.

"Sitting overhead, it can tell you straight away whether you're talking about a major road traffic collision that requires three fire engines and four ambulances, or whether it's a minor prang and someone's getting over-excited."

About 400 drones are currently used by police forces in England and Wales that cannot be flown out of the operator's line of sight.

There are plans to amend those rules with initial trials taking place in areas with closed-off airspace next year.