√Eye in the sky: Hoons in the crosshairs of police drones

Drones are being increasingly used in Australia to target hoons, with night-vision technology leaving nowhere to hide.

Police across Australia are increasingly relying on drones to find and weed out hoon behaviour on public roads.

Since their introduction in July 2019, Tasmania Police has used drones in 1175 operations, Drive can reveal, with the technology being used to target hoons across the island state.

“The use of drones has assisted in tracking evading motorists, searches for missing persons and stolen property and providing investigators with an aerial view of crash scenes,” Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar told Drive.

“Hooning is a key concern for Tasmania Police, and our officers conduct targeted operations to catch and prosecute those responsible.”

The Tasmanian Government announced in May an additional $460,000 was being allocated to the police for these operations, with 33 drones being used by marine, rescue, forensic, and highway patrol services, as well as by the state’s tactical Special Operations Group.

Queensland adopted the idea when it introduced a fleet of drones with night vision-capable cameras in September 2020, designed to help combat dangerous or anti-social driving.

“[Drones] will provide police with enhanced flexibility when dealing with gatherings of hoons,” Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said at the time.

“For example, if dozens of cars were hooning in a particular location, police would be able to use these new hi-tech cameras to capture images of all the vehicles,” he said.

“The high-resolution images would allow police to identify each vehicle, and then proceed to take action against the registered owner, unless the owner could demonstrate they weren’t driving at the time.”

In April 2021, Queensland Police used drones in an attempt to quell dangerous driving on beaches north of Noosa, in an targeted offensive called ‘Operation Sandstorm’.

Sunshine Coast Superintendent Craig Hawkins told ABC News at the time its drones had been effective in combating reckless drivers.

“Those behaviours consist of not only drivers doing doughnuts and fishtailing up and down the beach, but also some of that behaviour is occurring in the dead of night with people walking around in the dark.”

The nation’s capital could soon follow the trend, with ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan telling ABC News earlier this month drones were being considered to help track vehicles and apprehend hoons.

ACT Government officials recently announced they were considering adopting stronger anti-hoon laws – similar to those introduced in Victoria and Queensland – with those found guilty potentially having to forfeit their vehicle for crushing.

In August 2020, Western Australia Police announced 40 drones would begin patrolling the state to support its operations.

According to 9News, Victoria Police have approximately 30 drones in their fleet as of April 2021, while NSW Police have more than 100 drones in operation – though neither have publicly indicated whether the technology is being actively used to spot hoon drivers.

The post Eye in the sky: Hoons in the crosshairs of police drones appeared first on Drive.