Lincolnshire Police have announced plans to deploy a drone for use in tackling rural crime later this year.  

Although sources at the constabulary said the drone won’t exclusively be used in rural police work, and will “support urban and city policing equally,” Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Marc Jones highlighted rural applications in making public the plans for trialling the drone.

The first drone will arrive in Lincolnshire next week and will undergo a series of operational tests to enable the PCC and the force to assess how many drones will be needed to ensure full coverage of the county. The unmanned aerial vehicle will be trialled as part of a new Rural Community Safety Plan, and pending the Civil Aviation Authority’s blessing should be operational by August, before a force-wide roll out later in the year.

The drone will be equipped with a thermal imaging camera, to gather images over difficult terrain and hard to reach areas such as woodland or coastline. Police highlighted its potential for locating missing people quickly, for tackling rural and wildlife crime, and for use during fires and floods, to help other emergency services mount rescues.

The drone programme will cost £16,000. PCC Marc Jones said, “Drones will give our force new capabilities in combatting crime and protecting our communities and residents. Since taking office I have been determined to equip the force with the best available kit to help them keep all our communities safe. This is an exciting step on that journey but that drive will continue.”

Insp Ed Delderfield, who is leading the project, has spent months reviewing the available equipment and assessing the use of drones in other areas across the UK. He said, “This is an exciting development and we are looking forward to testing the equipment and scoping out the ways in which it can help with operations. The potential is fantastic and we plan to expand the number of vehicles once we have a firm grasp of how many are required to ensure we have full coverage of the county.”