Scottish police chiefs under fire for purchase of non-rainproof drones

A number of Scottish Police chiefs have come under fire for the decision to purchase a number of non-rainproof drones, worth nearly £ 60,000 (about £ 70,000). It concerned three devices from DJI's Matrice 210 series. It was already known at the time of purchase that they cannot be used when it rains heavily.

Scottish police chiefs under fire for purchase of non-rainproof drones

“Questionable purchase”

The riot over the purchase of the drones was recently made public by The Scottish Sun. Harry Fone, spokesman for an organization that critically scrutinizes taxpayer spending, is furious about the purchase.

“Scottish taxpayers keep paying for the cost of questionable purchases. We really need to take measures to prevent these kinds of purchases in the future,” Fone said.

The chiefs of the Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness regions decided to purchase three DJI M210 aircraft, even though they were known to be non-rainproof. In recent years, there have been several examples of Matrice series drones crashing after a flight in rainy conditions. The British aviation authority even issued an official warning for this.

The aircraft were purchased in 2019, with the aim of assisting in the search for missing persons and making aerial photographs of crime scenes. After the purchase, measures were taken in the field of waterproofing, but nevertheless, the corps leadership decided to use the drones only in dry weather, “in order to guarantee the safety of the public.”

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