News today of Victoria Police forming drone units. Initial reports state they will be used for monitoring footy crowds at Melbourne's large sporting venues.
https://www.midlandexpress.com.au/category/latest-news/
One likely to be based in Bendigo, a town I know well.
It is a pity that a town 100 miles away from Melbourne, does not have a dedicated airwing assigned to the area. No doubt drones will fill some of the gap some of the time. In the past I have called for the use of light utility helicopters, such as R44 police helicopter in regional Victoria. Particularly in summer to support communities in bushfire emergencies.
Bendigo is blessed with 320 sunny days per year, is largely flat, but high ambient temperatures take their toll on performance of a piston engine in summer.
Having said that, the R44 police has an
exemplary accident record, all the more safer now it has a fuel cell.
Regionally based air ambulances are used in the winching and rescue role.
Long lens performance of a lightweight stabilised gimbal is still well below their larger uber expensive and heavier brothers. On the other hand a high flying drone can be truely covert in a rural setting.
My experience with government agencies is that they tend to defer to their core role, for police this is law enforcement.
I see the good work done by the US Civil Air patrol and in the past have wondered if there is scope for a similar organisation in Australia to support rural communities. Perhaps the best we can hope for is a civil drone patrol....
Interesting times ahead.
mjb