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Gatwick drone chaos must force government to ‘up its game’, Met Police chief Cressida Dick says

Security services around the world grappling with how to deal with drones, police chief says

Lizzie Dearden
Home Affairs Correspondent
Thursday 27 December 2018 13:30 GMT
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Government needs to 'up its game' to tackle illegal drone use, says Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick

The government needs to “up its game” to combat the threat posed by drones, Britain’s most senior police officer has said.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the chaos at Gatwick Airport had sparked intensified cooperation between the government, military, private companies and police.

“The whole country and certainly the government will have watched what has gone on and said, ‘We need to up our game here’,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We need to be able to prevent the criminal use of drones, for whatever motivation, near our airports and if somebody does that we need to be able to find them quickly as possible, bring the drone under control and bring people to justice.”

The warning came after around 1,000 Gatwick flights were cancelled or diverted across three days last week, following reports of drones being spotted inside the airport perimeter.

As tens of thousands of passengers had their pre-Christmas travel disrupted, pressure mounted on authorities to explain how they were unable to prevent the unmanned aircraft entering a supposedly secure area.

Sussex Police were heavily criticised after arresting an innocent couple, who said they felt “completely violated” after their names were leaked. They were released without charge.

Ms Dick has rebuffed suggestions that Scotland Yard should take over the investigation, saying it would be a “very odd thing to do”.

Sussex Police are an “enormous way down a large and complex investigation”, she said, but admitted the Met was supporting the probe.

She added that “lots and lots of resources” have been sent by the Met, including officers with experience of working in airports and those with technological and investigative expertise.

Ms Dick insisted that dealing with drones is a “challenging thing” and there “clearly were many sightings of drones on a number of different occasions” at Gatwick.

Couple arrested over the drone disruption at Gatwick says they feel 'completely violated'

The commissioner said the fact drones can “pop up and go away very quickly” made investigating sightings difficult.

“The drone technology is always changing – we have to keep up with that,” she added.

“There are a whole variety of tactics and technologies that we are now using, can use and in the future they will have to change again… I’ve been talking to colleagues around the world and I can tell you this is not an easy problem.

“We are doing our very best here, and going into the future I’m sure, working closely with others, we will get better and better.

“But you won’t find a police service in the world who is sitting complacently thinking, we could always deal with a drone. You won’t find it. It’s a difficult challenge.”

Although there was no indication of a link to terrorism, Isis and other groups have used drones for reconnaissance and to carry explosives in conflicts abroad, while the aircraft are used by criminals smuggling drugs into prisons in the UK.

On Monday, security minister Ben Wallace warned that anyone using drones “recklessly” or illegally could expect severe punishments.

He said the government was able to deploy detection systems throughout the UK to combat the threat, adding: ”The huge proliferation of such devices, coupled with the challenges of deploying military counter measures into a civilian environment, means there are no easy solutions.”

Mr Wallace gave his support to Sussex Police and said the ongoing investigation into the Gatwick incident was being carried out “with the utmost professionalism and commitment”.

Civil Aviation Authority figures show there were 120 near misses between drones and aircraft reported in the year to 4 December, up almost a third on the 2017 total.

From November next year owners of drones weighing at least 250g will be required to register and take an online safety test, and the government has consulted on new rules.

The Department for Transport is also considering using new technology to protect public events, critical national infrastructure and prisons from drone disruption.

The chaos at Gatwick came as police and security services continue to brace for a potential no-deal Brexit, where contingencies would have to be created to replace European Union databases.

The draft withdrawal agreement that MPs will vote on extends the UK’s use of the European Arrest Warrant and other tools until the end of a 21-month transition period.

But with the deal opposed by both pro-Remain Tories and Brexiteers, its passage through parliament is uncertain and the government has been mounting what critics have dubbed “project fear 2.0” to rally support.

Britain’s continued access to intelligence networks – including the second generation Schengen Information System, which is used by British police 539 million times every year, is still being negotiated as part of a separate security treaty.

Ms Dick said replacements for the way security services currently arrest, extradite and investigate criminals would be “more costly, slower undoubtedly, and potentially put the public at risk”.

She voiced hope that police will have “as much as possible of the instruments” they currently have, or something very similar as quickly as possible after Brexit, adding: “If we come out without immediately obvious replacements for those instruments, that will undoubtedly mean we will have to work incredibly hard on a bilateral basis with countries to try to get in place some kind of way of working together.”

In July the Home Affairs Committee warned that Britain was on course for a “catastrophic” security deal that would let criminals and terrorists go free, and police chiefs say it will be “harder to protect” the public in the event of no deal.

A dedicated unit is preparing to train for officers who, overnight, would have to dramatically change the way they work.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it may be forced to revert to “slower, more bureaucratic and less effective” tools including Interpol, bilateral channels and Council of Europe conventions.

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