Ekaterina Blinova — Swedish police have purchased several drones in order to test them as a part of law enforcement's toolkit.
According to Engstrom, the experiment's ultimate goal is to adopt the drones for mountain rescue work as well as for many other "operational activities." Indeed, instead of sending a police officer into a dangerous zone, law enforcers will be able to examine the area with the help of a UAV.
Drones can be also used to monitor and film protest rallies, providing law enforcers with valuable information about possible illegal activities by demonstrators. In addition, the aircrafts are indispensable for reconnaissance purposes: a UAV can be sent to "spy" on a perpetrator who is hiding in a building and to make photos of the facilities' interior.
It is worth mentioning that Sweden's law enforcement has long been considering the idea of including drones in their everyday toolkit. The latest project supervised by the National Police Board aims to investigate drones' capabilities and possible applications.
UAVs, either controlled remotely or autonomous, have been used since for surveillance since 1980s by various security services. Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) have become especially popular with US military forces conducting deadly operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.
