It may look like a child's toy but this unmanned spy helicopter can swoop down and squirt criminals with a liquid marker so they can later be identified by police. The £25,000 remote-controlled Microdrone, the size of a dustbin lid, can capture high-quality video footage and infrared imagery from more than 350ft away, beaming the data back to its operators on the ground.
But its most revolutionary function is to mark offenders with a solution called SmartWater which identifies them to police. British Transport Police have been using the device, which took eight years to develop, as part of an operation to crack down on metal cable thefts on the railways, codenamed Operation Drum. A BTP spokesman said: "Although it may look simple, it's actually a complex bit of kit capable of many things. "There's only one being used at the moment as it is an expensive device."
Police Constable Roy McMichael, who is co-ordinating Operation Drum in Warwickshire, said: "The Microdrone is an excellent piece of technology which is assisting BTP in our ongoing fight against cable thieves. Metal theft has become a major issue for police due to the soaring world prices of copper and lead. Officers say metal thieves in Britain are now participating in an international crime wave.
Detective Inspector Danny Snee, who heads Operation Drum in the North-East said: "The Microdrone will assist in covering even large stretches of the railway to monitor criminal activity. "Its use will mean that we can police even more sections of the rail network in addition to regular patrols and other tactics that we adopt to disrupt cable thieves." He added: "The Microdrone will not be intrusive to the general public and will only be aimed at people involved in criminal activity."
Dyan Crowther, from Network Rail, said: "Sadly the theft of cable from the railways remains a serious and pressing issue for us. "Anything which can help us to catch the thieves who are putting their own lives in danger and causing millions of pounds worth of disruption to the regions economy is to be welcomed"
