We have three drones: two are based in the north, and one is based in the west, at our air support heliport in Glasgow. They have all been used in an operational context at some point.
I will give some figures from May 2019 through to November last year. The drones were deployed in a number of scenarios. For example, they were deployed for missing person searches on 59 occasions and for major incidents, such as murders or significant events in which there was a request for support, on seven occasions. They were deployed on a number of occasions to take photographs of crime scenes or vehicle accident locations.
In addition, there were deployments to try to prevent rural crime. For example, on one particular occasion a number of stakeholders were involved when technical equipment was being stolen from a particularly large wind farm. We deployed uniformed officers to patrol, as well as flight time for the drones. That had a significant, positive impact in terms of crime prevention and was very well received by those members of the public who lived in the rural area and, of course, by the landowners and others who were involved in the request for drone use.
Drones have been used for quite a wide variety of issues, but that use has been very overt and has supported crime prevention or public safety, or the investigation of serious crime, when there has been a request from a senior investigating officer or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
We are, clearly, still evaluating the utility and helpfulness of drones. As I said earlier, the helicopter is our other air asset. We use it a lot, but it is very expensive, and it is not always able to transit across the country, because of the weather and other such factors. Drones offer us a tactical option other than the helicopter, to do, in effect, what the helicopter does. For example, if we are looking for a missing person, drones can support the search of coastlines and other more inaccessible areas where it might be more dangerous or risky to deploy emergency responders. The topographic capabilities allow us to get an overview. We could get that overview using a helicopter, but that would be expensive and using a drone for that purpose is far more efficient and effective, as well as being better value for the taxpayer and the organisation. The drones have utility that, although not as flexible, sustainable and enduring as that of the helicopter, which is a more resilient piece of kit, is hugely beneficial to front-line officers, service delivery and in protecting the public.
11:45