Could drones be used to catch anti-social bikers?
Durham PoliceA police and crime commissioner says she wants to stop anti-social off-road motorbikes by sending drones to follow riders.
The scheme had been successfully trialled in three operations, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Joy Allen said, adding she hoped to give every community neighbourhood area a drone to tackle nuisance riders.
Drones fly above bikers, follow them to their homes and then officers are sent to seize the vehicles to be crushed.
Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle’s Hot Seat, Allen said because bikes made a lot of noise, riders did not realise there was a drone above.
"We’ve got the intelligence, we know where they’re riding, we know what times they’re riding and we know where they are," Allen said.
"The drones follow them back to where they’re being stored so we can confiscate the bikes.
"We crush the bikes, I’m really keen that they don’t go back into the system."
Allen said tackling nuisance bikers was among the "top five" most requested priorities of people responding to the PCC’s crime consultation.
During the Hot Seat, Consett resident Melanie said: "They're on the main roads, no helmets, doing wheelies. There’s kids, there’s traffic, there’s elderly people and they’re just doing what they like, where’s it going to end?"
Allen said instead of getting more bobbies on the beat, drones would be more effective in tackling bike crime.
She said: "When we see the bikes, it’s very difficult because by the time you get there they’ve gone, but still, when it’s reported we’ve got a dot on the map."
She also said that community intelligence was "absolutely key" to get the drones to the right places.
"We’ve had some absolutely fantastic evidence from the community, there’ve been lock-ups when we’d have never found them if it hadn’t been for the community."
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