Anyone who has watched the movie ‘Eye in the Sky’ would know as to how deep the ethical questions a drone operation can pose. But that was , of course, at the war zones. The fact is for the last one decade or so this unmanned flying robot is increasingly becoming an integral part of several important and often daily tasks—right from probing into some beyond-the-limit territory , exploring areas inaccessible physically by humans, or during disaster management or for that matter even consignment delivery too. The media is also using it extensively.
Drones which are remotely controlled or fly autonomously using software-controlled flight plans in its embedded system, that work in conjunction with onboard sensors and a global positioning system (GPS)-have been increasingly adopted to address several critical challenges faced by humanity to provide support and convenience. Drones are readily available for deployment in hard-to-access locations for delivery of critical medical supplies, surveillance, for weather data collection and for home delivery of purchased goods. Drones are increasingly beneficial to civilians, they have also been used to carry out crimes
One of the most important tasks that this otherwise innocuous looking flying machine is used for is surveillance and exploration of areas for security operations by the police. And as it is being used increasingly there comes two sides of it – positive and negative.
Even as the Drones or UAVs are getting more popular and accessible to consumers it also makes easier for criminals to take advantage of the technology for criminal activities too . Drones have been used for a range of crimes from smuggling, spying/stalking, criminal damage, and even theft of card details from ATM’s. With drones being adaptable and so varied, it makes the job of law enforcement even harder as they must tackle newly emerging crimes and disruptions, possibly without the necessary legislation in place for guidance.
The misuse of drones poses threats to public safety, organizations, and national security due to such incidents where drones have been flown in no-fly zones. Such threats are reasons why drone forensic programs are essential in aiding the understanding of drone technology and in reducing the crime rate, especially when successful in gathering evidence for a case. However, even with the benefits, a drone forensics program will bring to law enforcement agencies, this is still an area that remains relatively unexplored. Drone crime can vary in threat levels, and there needs to be a more precise understanding by the public as well as law enforcement about these threats posed by drones, as drone crime is ‘only limited by the imagination of the criminal’
Keeping this in mind the KTD Singh Police Training Academy of Tripura launched a two-day workshop on “Drone Surveillance and Drone Forensics” started Police Training Academy on Tuesday. KTD Singh Police Training Academy and State Forensic Science Laboratory are jointly organizing the workshop.
Police officers and Forensic experts participated in the workshop and Gourab Chakraborty inaugurated the workshop in presence of Dilip Ray, Principal PTA and Dr. H.K Pratihari, Director SFSL.
Experts from Nextechno Gen Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi and D-Town Robotics Pvt. Ltd. Noida, UP are participating as resource persons. The demonstration session of the Drone was held at R.K Nagar TSR Training Centre today. Rest sessions of the workshop will be at Narsingarh Police Training Academy.
