Patrol aircraft in the service of the police

^{For patrolling in Lancaster, a small plane Cessna 172 is used, for which the Californian company Spiral Technology has developed a video surveillance and control system. The project cost is $ 1.3 million, one hour of observation is $ 300.}

The authorities of the California town of Lancaster gave the go-ahead to use the Cessna 172 aircraft for police patrolling the streets, starting in May 2012. The plane will be in the air 10 hours a day, flying around the territory along a given route at an altitude of 300 to 900 meters and taking down the movements of people on the ground using video cameras, including in the infrared.

Apparently, this is the first time in the world when the police use airplanes to monitor civilians. But this example certainly will not be the last. Moreover, in the future they may begin to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are now effectively patrolling the US-Mexican border, military zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

In the event of an alarm, a patrol aircraft in Lancaster instantly goes to the indicated coordinates and starts video recording. He obeys commands from the center and can quickly sit on the offender's tail. Thus, the police receive an effective tool for quick response to shooting (along with a network of sound sensors), apartment robbery, car thefts and other offenses reported by citizens immediately after they are committed.
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In the “free time” the plane will simply fly along the route and shoot everything, transferring the image to the control center. That is, it acts like a regular patrol drone on the border or in a war zone.


<sup>UAV Predator is used to patrol the Mexican border, to date, the raid of "predators" has exceeded 10,000 hours.


The command center in southern Arizona, where the picture comes from the UAV.


Infrared imaging allows you to detect 19 violators who at night are trying to penetrate American territory.</sup>

Without a doubt, this is a very effective tool, but the question arises: how acceptable can be considered the idea of ​​using patrol planes for civilian purposes - does this not violate the privacy of citizens?

Judging by the comments of representatives of the security forces, who have been discussing the use of UAVs for patrolling for several years, the privacy of residents is not at all considered a problem. The only reason why UAV police officers still do not fly over every city is safety. The recent case of the American drone in Iran showed how easy it is to disable the drone, drown out / replace the control signals and disable the aircraft. In the worst case, a plane crash can happen when a lost UAV dives directly to the rooftops.

To date, the rules of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) do not allow UAV flights over densely populated areas. Developers of such devices, as well as law enforcement agencies have to do a considerable amount of work to lift this ban. The FAA's consideration of the issue of permitting small UAVs in cities is scheduled for January 2012. The developers of the UAV have already manufactured models of police drones - it remains only to receive the green light from the FAA.


^{Model of a UAV police officer from the American company AeroVironment. The aircraft weighing 2.5 kg, controlled from the tablet, and the cost of such a UAV will be only $ 40,000, that is, like a regular police car.}