The South African Police Service (SAPS) will start using drones for monitoring purposes and anti-crime initiatives, mostly in rural areas. Police minister Bheki Cele has responded to a parliamentary Q&A saying that a total of 166 drones will be purchased in three phases, and start operating in different areas to assist police in saving time and resource.
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“The current proposed model for drone deployment in phases one, two and three will include 43 localities,” the minister said. The drones have been procured to be used in Provincial Operational Command Centres, District Operational Command Centres, the Safer City Projects, satellite drone units serving various police stations, and the utilisation of drones in rural safety plans.
The SAPS have been using drones in pilot programmes in Johannesburg, but the newly procured drones will be deployed nationwide. This is nothing new – private security companies in South Africa have been using drones for several years in anti-crime initiatives, mostly in up-market complexes and estates where it can be difficult to track criminals on the ground.
According to Charnel Hattingh, head of marketing and communications at Fidelity Services Group, there are risks even in secured complexes, which led to the use of drones in its operations. It is used to scan and survey the areas as there is always a risk of burglaries and theft. Many complexes are now combining electric fences and guarding posts with the use of new technologies like drones.
“We believe drones and the deployment of a mobile drone team, not only act as a highly effective visible deterrent to criminals, but also assist to immediately track down and locate criminal elements once an outer perimeter on an estate has been breached, or in any scenario where suspects are at large on a security estate,” Hattingh said. “These high tech innovations definitely represent the future face of security, but as stressed earlier, they work best if they are combined with an integrated security offering.”
