In a time not too distant from a serious incident in Barcelona, a drone will arrive before a citizen security patrol. An aircraft that will emit images of what is happening in real time to the room, or any device of the police officers, who will have more and better information for decision-making.
It's not fiction. It is a reality that the Mossos d'Esquadra aspires to, which yesterday presented its fleet of drones, a key piece within the Air Police. The Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, the director of the Police, Pere Ferrer, the chief commissioner Eduard Sallent and the commanders of the general intervention police station, among others, witnessed on the athletics track of the Institut de Seguretat Pùblica de Mollet, the police school, the launch of the new fixed-wing drone. An aircraft in the shape of a small plane, with the possibility of flying with three propellers as if it were a helicopter, and that has a flight range of two hours, the option of flying up to 32 kilometers without interrupting the broadcast of images. . With the possibility of flying over the target at a higher altitude than the rest, 400 meters, with hardly any noise, it becomes discreet and privileged eyes of any police operation.
A drone that today is only available to the German federal police, which makes the Mossos, in Sallent's words, the technological “avant-garde.” The aircraft is also capable of rising up to 100 meters in altitude, connected to a cable that supplies it with energy, which makes it possible to have it flying at one point indefinitely, while managing a crisis, and broadcasting live images.
Today, its flight in urban areas is not possible and its acquisition is primarily designed to fly over the coast and participate in the security device of the America's Cup. Although it has another element that makes its generation of drones unique, built-in Artificial Intelligence that allows you to design your best flight plan while, for example, tracking a specific objective. From a vehicle in a chase, or a specific individual in an incident.
Drones have been the protagonists of several simulations carried out to put this sending of images in real time into practice. From a car chase to a performance in a nightclub assault with hostages. “Comprehensive police by land, sea and air,” highlighted Minister Elena.
