Dutch police will significantly expand drone fleet

The Dutch Police will be investing heavily in expanding its drone fleet in the coming years. The police currently have about sixty drones. In two years, there must be at least 130. The drones are increasingly being used for various applications, such as enforcement, locating missing persons, and investigating traffic accidents.

Dutch police will significantly expand drone fleet

According to the police, drones have become an indispensable tool in supporting all kinds of operational activities.

“Drones are good at tasks that are dangerous, dirty, or difficult for humans to complete and can also perform tasks effectively and efficiently. The work of the police requires modern technological tools that can be used to prevent and detect criminal offenses, and to enforce and monitor public order and safety.”

At the end of 2017, the police were using ten drones. Three years later – October 2020 – the police had a drone fleet of 60 operational aircraft. There were 556 operational deployments throughout 2019. In 2020 there were already 790 up to and including September. Most deployments concern detection, enforcement, forensic investigation, and road accident analysis.

The intention is to purchase dozens of unmanned aircraft in the coming years to drastically expand the drone fleet. To this end, the police have set in motion a European tendering process. Furthermore, the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) testing grounds will be extended to the area-bound police (GGP). This year one primary team will work with it.

According to the law

The police ensure that the use of the drone fleet is entirely in line with the legislation.

“Due to the combination of new legislation in 2020 and the use of Education and training, the police can and may in principle fly with drones everywhere in the Netherlands for professional use.”

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This article first appeared on dronewatch.nul and is written by Wiebe de Jager who is also a DroneXL contributor.