UAVs for simultaneous security and media coverage?

[mickjoebill]

Airbeat Magazine reports that UK police are keen to see uavs used for
"surveillance, road and railway monitoring, search and rescue support, harbor security, event security and media coverage, communication relays, major incident assessment, frontier security and covert urban surveillance".

I'm particularly interested in the concept of pooling a police controlled UAV to do "event security and media coverage"

Surely the two tasks are not compatible?

Who will have control of the joystick, the outside broadcast director or the chief constable? Tight shot of the Olympic rings or a suspect in the back alley?

With agreement for UAVs to fly in the UK "expected" in 2011 and with the 2012 Olympics approaching are the simultaneous multi role capabilities of UAVs being oversold?

Or perhaps the UK police plan to operate a separate UAV for media use?

If so a disturbing new spin on "Police, Camera, Action"



Mickjoebill

[BASys]

Hi Folks

I'm particularly interested in
the concept of pooling a police controlled UAV
to do "event security and media coverage"

Surely the two tasks are not compatible?Possibly -
Media coverage != coverage by the media
Media coverage == coverage of the media :)

e.g.
Inspector Plod to squaddies -
"best behaviour lads, there's a media team approaching" :)



Who will have control of the joystick,
the outside broadcast director or the chief constable? Possibly neither.
May be a 3rd party organisation e.g. BAeSystems MAS/Detica.



With agreement for UAVs to fly in the UK "expected" in 2011
and with the 2012 Olympics approaching
are the simultaneous multi role capabilities of UAVs being oversoldDon't think so from the unclassified footage I'd seen.

Visitors to this summer's V Festival, (not sure which site),
will be under the multi-spectral hi-res beady eyes mounted on a UAV airship.

150kg payload will provide a lot of camera systems.

I'm interested if anyone has further info.

ATB
Paul

[The Civil Civillian]

Merseyside Police have been playing with a UAV for a while. The last news I heard about it was they were fying it without all the required paperwork. i.e they was breaking the law.