Drones used to tackle serious violence in Northampton

As part of Northamptonshire Police’s work to tackle serious violence, the Force’s drone has been sent up this week in hotspot areas in Northampton.

Drones have been used by the Force for a number of years and are routinely carried in patrol cars.

They are used to carry out a variety of tasks including searching for missing and wanted people as they give officers a bird's eye view of any given situation.

This week however, they are being trialled for a different use – flying over key areas where serious violence has been an issue in the past, both for reassurance purposes and to identify any suspicious activity taking place.

Yesterday (September 7), one of the Force’s drones was flown over the Racecourse area of Northampton.

Inspector Ian Wills said: “Northamptonshire Police is a real advocate of the use of technology to fight crime and protect people from harm and drones are one of the many tools in our arsenal in order to do this.

“I am pleased with how today’s operation went, and I want to reassure the local community that we will continue to put the technology we have to use in order to tackle serious violence and keep our communities as safe as possible.

Chief Inspector Nathan Murray who is leading this week of action said “Tackling serious violence is a matter of priority for this Force and we are focused on work to prevent, manage and investigate those involved.”