Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of the RPAS Update.
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Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 15 June 2023
Date : 15 June 2023
Location : online
Overview
Police Scotland utilises remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), referred to as drones, from Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow providing air support to local policing, specialist departments and partners.
Police Scotland currently has six operational drones. The current fleet also contains assets used primarily for training and aerial image tasking.
An update was provided at the March 2022 Policing & Performance Committee that the 3 drones used operationally by Police Scotland Air Support Unit (ASU) would be replaced with newer models in order to maintain and improve current service delivery and support to Local Policing and partners.
The models purchased by Police Scotland in 2019, are no longer marketed by the manufacturer.
In April 2022, a Capital spend budget totalling £170,000 was secured for the upgrade of the fleet. This was approved by Police Scotland Air Support Monitoring Group.
Drones are currently deployed to events on a regular basis supporting policing commanders and local delivery partners in making key public safety decisions.
