Met chief announces ambitious expansion of drone coverage in London

Every London borough will see drones in use by the Met Police as the capital’s police force expands its drone capability after the success of pilots showed strong results and could see the creation of a London-wide emergency services drone network.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Police Foundation in East London, Sir Mark Rowley told public and private sector leaders that the speed with which crime is evolving through technology means that policing must seize opportunities to take a ‘transformative leap.’

He provided more detail on the Met’s use of drones, saying that the expanded unit is completing 200 flights per week with deployments reaching incidents well before officers on the ground, providing vital situational awareness.

“And so in many cases, drones now arrive first. Providing live intelligence. Tracking suspects. Supporting officers before they reach the scene.”

He announced that the current capability will be expanded to provide coverage in every London borough and there will be more collaboration with partners including the London Fire Brigade “to build a London-wide emergency services drone network.”

“This should not just mean sharing drones. It should mean sharing the underlying infrastructure that makes them effective, the airspace management, the launch sites, the connectivity, the data and control systems.

“Our aim should be a single, secure, coordinated infrastructure that allows police, fire and ambulance services to operate seamlessly as we protect the public.”

His speech was wide-ranging and set out how technology is driving crime, not enabling it, with industrial scale use of artificial intelligence targeting victims in ever-changing ways. He explained: “A growing underground market now offers dark web versions of AI tools, designed specifically for cybercrime. For a relatively low cost, criminals can access tools that help them design, refine and automate attacks at scale.”

He also said the Met is close to delivering a new Command and Control system to handle 999 and 101 calls and direct officers on the ground.

With the expansion of live facial recognition technology revealed earlier this week, the Commissioner’s speech reinforced his commitment to this approach noting that not every Londoner agrees with it. “New technology often meets resistance, but when it is used responsibly and proves its worth, it becomes indispensable,” he remarked.

Using his speech as a call for more funding to achieve the Met’s ambitions including getting more insight from its vast amount of data by investing in new solutions including those from controversial tech firm, Palantir, he also reinforced his commitment to police reform. “We now need to deliver reform soon, or it will only be a matter of time before we face a disaster that a simpler model with integrated, advanced technology would have avoided. Better to reform now and prevent that disaster than be forced to change after it.”

Read Sir Mark Rowley’s speech in full and read the Police Foundation research report which reveals Londoners’ attitudes to policing and crime in the capital, their views on technology and how the police might modernise.

Met Police T/Superintendent Taryn Evans will be speaking about the Met’s drone programme, including drones as first responders, at The Emergency Tech Show on 16 September. Register to attend here.