Chennai Police gets India's first AI powered ‘Drone Police Unit,’ to catch suspects
Drones equipped with AI technology can accurately estimate the number of people present at a gathering, enabling the police to plan their crowd control procedures.
Chennai Police creates a 'Drone Police Unit’ for aerial surveillance
Highlights
- Chennai Police creates a 'Drone Police Unit’ for aerial surveillance
- These drones with AI capabilities operate at a distance of 5–10 km
- It also detects thermal items & identifies suspects carrying knives
On 29 June, 2023, a new drone unit for the police department was launched by the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) Commissioner. The GCP established a ‘Drone Police Unit’ to help officers with aerial surveillance, which will be especially useful in cases of large gatherings, real-time checking of vehicle registration data, and spotting suspects.
The project, which costs approximately Rs 3.6 crore, was inaugurated by outgoing Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP), Sylendra Babu, in the presence of Chennai Police Commissioner, Shankar Jiwal, at Besant Avenue, Adyar.
How does the AI drone work?
Also read
According to the police, this unit has a total of nine drones that fall into three categories: six quick response surveillance drones, one heavy lift multirotor drone, and two long-range survey drones. These drones have artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities built in and can operate up to 5 to 10 kilometres away from the ground station.
Even at night, the Heavy Lift Drone's infrared cameras can find people who have become trapped in the water and rescue them by deploying life jackets. Additionally, these drones can precisely predict crowd sizes at events like festivals or other gatherings, allowing authorities to properly organise their crowd control measures.
According to a GCP press release, the drones are fitted with ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras that can do real-time verifications against the vehicle registration database and identify suspects and stolen cars.
AI drones enable detection of suspects
Shankar Jaiswal said that these drones have the ability to capture thermal items and can identify whether a suspect is carrying a knife or other things on his body. He said that night patrolling would become simpler and that offenders could be quickly caught using data from drones.
He further added that the drones would be employed to keep an eye on activity in remote areas and to bring together antisocial elements.
As evidenced by its current application, it can be said that artificial intelligence has vast potential for assisting law enforcement agencies in detecting suspects. In this tech savvy world, where advancements in AI are being made every now and then, let us see what opportunities and the changes await in the coming months.
