Police Scotland’s use of drones

Drones have been used operationally by Police Scotland’s Air Support Unit since 2019 and were initially based in Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow. Police officers using a drone must be in uniform, near a marked police vehicle and the drone must stay within their sight.

If the drone is being operated in a busy environment, officers will cordon off an area to operate the drone from. Where possible and when appropriate, Police Scotland will also notify the public and local community when there is a planned deployment of drones.

Drones can be used to support a variety of policing operations including missing person searches, major incidents and events, armed policing and public order operations as well as fire investigation and crime scene analysis.

Police Scotland note that using drones provides a more flexible and environmentally sustainable approach to support policing operations. In addition, drones are found to be low cost, visible and effective assets.

Whilst drones provide investigative advantages to police operations, they may impact the public. Therefore, Police Scotland abide by a Code of Practice when using drones. Published in 2021, key aspects of this Code include:

• Drones are only used within the visual line of sight of officers;
• Drones are not used in a covert manner;
• Any drone activity, including the recording and retention of images, must comply with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

To ensure that Police Scotland’s use of drones is ethical and proportionate, an Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment (EqHRIA) and a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) have been completed. In the Code of Practice, Police Scotland commit to reviewing both the EqHRIA and DPIA annually.

Police Scotland drones will only record images when it is proportionate, legal and necessary. Any evidential imagery will be passed to the reporting officer and may ultimately be shared with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal’s Service. Images are not routinely captured when drones are deployed in a missing person investigation.

Across the period of July – September 2024, Police Scotland have deployed drones on 12 occasions across Scotland. Police Scotland Air Support Unit follow strict guidelines issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who are the governing body for all drone use within the United Kingdom.