Criminals in Australia's sunshine state may soon have two new cops to worry about. Only these policemen don't require lunch breaks, and they can fly.
On Thursday, the Queensland Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Jo-Ann Miller announced the state's police force would be adding to its drones capabilities.
Two new Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPAs) will offer the force's forensic team a birds-eye advantage at crime scenes. Both carbon fibre drones have high-resolution cameras able to capture video and still images from high in the sky.
The drones have a combined cost of A$23,000, according to Nine News. The evidence the drones are able to gather will be used in court, Miller told the television network, but she would not say if they would be used in counter-terrorism operations.
"Our forensic services officers have a vitally important job. They go to great lengths to scour a crime scene for the tiniest bit of evidence that may make all the difference to a case," Miller said in a statement. "These new drones will offer investigators the opportunity to record a comprehensive aerial overview of crime scenes –- something that they haven’t been able to do before now."
The Queensland police have been testing drone capabilities for a number of years. In 2014, reports emerged the force was using at least two drones for "situational awareness" during high-risk events like sieges.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Our Photographic Section now have two operationally deployable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (or drones) to assist at crime scenes across Queensland.More info: http://mypolice.qld.gov.au/blog/2015/05/28/forensic-services-takes-to-the-air/Posted by Queensland Police Service on Wednesday, May 27, 2015