Police have been given the go ahead to use drones in the fight against crime, it has been announced.

Officers at Gwent Police will soon be using the aircraft in live police events after being granted permission by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week.

The unmanned aircraft will help police search for missing people, police large-scale events, tackle anti-social behaviour and assist officers’ safety.

A police spokeswoman said the drones would be in action following a testing phase, with fourteen officers currently trained to use the aircraft.

“At this time, whilst in the project phase, we will be self-tasking the aircraft and attending selected operational incidents in order to test the aircrafts’ ability and suitability.

 

“Drones are used by many and we hope they’ll offer our front line officers a different perspective on policing,” she said.