by Nick Webster
Police in the Liverpool region made Britain’s first ever arrest using a camera mounted on a remote control eye-in-the-sky mini-helicopter.
[clicklancashire.com] Thermal images from a camera mounted on the drone were used to track down a suspected car thief hiding under cover of thick fog in the Sefton area.
The device – known officially as a Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) – was used pinpoint the spot where the wanted man was lying in undergrowth beside a canal.
Merseyside Police are the only force in the UK to used the #40,000 UAV which is is far cheaper to use than a conventional helicopter for small-scale operations.
The arrest came a fortnight ago when a Renault Clio was reported stolen at Bootle.
A police search and pursuit operation saw ended when two men dumped the Clio near the Leeds-Liverpool canal and ran off.
One man was caught immediately but second vanished in the fog into an area alongside the canal towpath.
The UAV was drafted-in and live CCTV images from its thermal camera were used to locate the suspect from his body-heat image and he too was arrested.
Merseyside Police has been experimenting with the UAV since 2007, and has used them to assist in search and rescue missions and anti-social behaviour operations.
The 3ft wide battery-powered device has a set of four rotar blades. It can fly up to heights of up to 500ft and has a range of two miles from its operator.
It was developed for military uses but the Home Office is considering their deployment to other police forces and fire brigades.
Merseyside Police Chief Insp Nick Gunatilleke said: "We are continually looking to use new technology to help in the fight against crime and these arrests demonstrate the value of having something like the UAV as a resource.
"In this case the UAV’s thermal imaging camera was particularly helpful in identifying where one of the suspects was hiding by detecting the body heat he was giving off.
"The live footage was being viewed by the UAV’s operator in the mobile command vehicle close to the scene and they were able to then direct patrols on the ground to where the suspect was concealed.
"We are the only police force in the country currently using a UAV like this and this is the first time the thermal imaging equipment has led directly to an arrest since the UAV went live in November so we are very pleased.
"It also has a wealth of other technology on board and we will use it whenever we can to support other resources such as the Force helicopter and dog patrols in dealing with incidents when they arise."
Both the men arrested in the incident on 26th January have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
