RE drones; to capture criminals safely.
In answer to the letter writer's reply about how to tackle joy-rides, car thieves and get-away drivers safely, the writer says the police should look to using drones to follow the offenders thus allowing the police to co-ordinate their resources accordingly and hopefully bring the incident to a safe conclusion.
The drawback is this; at the moment "toy" drones (of which the price range can be over £5,000) all have a limited range in flying time (25 minutes) and transmitter range (2km) but the bigger the machine the more CAA restrictions it has. Can you imagine a 5kg mini helicopter falling out of the sky from 200 meters, it would kill anybody it hit thus defeating the object. Also if the offenders took to the motorway, this would then involve several police forces each with their own drones. Finally let's hope the criminal fraternity don't find out that you cannot use a drone anywhere near an airport, this would provide them with an easy escape route.
Bob Eccles
Bolton
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