KOCHI: When a man creates a ruckus at a crowded eatery in a city in the state, attacks a person with a weapon and flees, the police are often forced to rely on conventional methods — collecting CCTV footage and piecing together clues over several days — to track down the suspect.
Though advanced tools such as drone surveillance and AI-based monitoring are available, they are yet to be effectively deployed in urban policing. Even though the Kerala Police had earlier announced plans to introduce drone-based surveillance across all districts and train personnel in the technology, it is yet to see the light of the day.
It becomes even more relevant when police forces in other cities, particularly Mysuru and Chennai, have reportedly implemented such surveillance systems successfully and are yielding positive results.
“Despite reports of drones being used to locate individuals trapped in forests and during natural calamities, they are rarely or not deployed for surveillance or at crime scenes within the city,” said a sub-inspector with the Kochi city police.
A few days ago, a police officer on night patrol with the city police was injured in a hit-and-run incident involving a car.
It took nearly two days for the police to apprehend the accused after conducting an investigation centred on CCTV footage.
If active drone surveillance had been in place, tracing the suspect could have been much easier, said the officer.
A top official with the Kerala Police said, “We can’t say that the drones procured by the force are lying unused. Rather than being deployed at crime scenes for patrolling, their use is now largely occasional — mainly to monitor large areas during major event.”
One such strategic deployment is at the Nilakkal parking area in Sabarimala, where drone surveillance has been used to monitor nearly 17,000 parking slots. Similarly, drones have been effectively used for crowd management during major events, he said.
An officer with the research and analysis wing of the Kerala Police cyber operations said that in the latter half of 2023 the force implemented drone surveillance across all districts and deputed personnel for professional training in the technology. Currently, each police district has around three to four DGCA-certified drone pilots.