Drones may revolutionise policing in county - PCC

NVESTMENT in drone technology could revolutionise policing in Wiltshire, the county's police and crime commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, has said.

- PETER DAVISON

Mr Wilkinson said he wanted Wiltshire Police to leave its £700,000-a-year contract with the National Police Air Service (NPAS), and invest in a fleet of drones instead.

He said the NPAS contract gave him access to a helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, but the force had to pay for them whether they were used or not.

‘The helicopter is based in Bournemouth and the fixed-wing aircraft in the East Midlands, meaning they are sometimes scrambled to an incident which is over before they arrive.

But the force is tied into an indefinite government contract with no end date - and the only person who can release them is the new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

Mr Wilkinson is on the board of the National Police Air Service, where he represents all five PCCs in the South West - Wiltshire, Devon & Cornwall, Avon & Somerset, Dorset, and Gloucestershire.

Half of the forces, he said, want to be released from the contract.

He said he had been lobbying the former home secretary, Yvette Cooper, about the matter, and before that, the Conservatives’ last home secretary, James Cleverly.

“This contract was drawn up in the pre-drone era,” said Mr Wilkinson.