Drone cameras for police operations

E-Paper | March 12, 2026

RAWALPINDI: The city police, for the first time, will be using drone cameras for surveillance and police operations.

Some 50 drone cameras were recently acquired by the Punjab Police and one such camera, weighing about 1200 grams was handed over to the Rawalpindi district police on Thursday. However, the cops are yet to receive training in operating the new gadget.

Along with district police, Police College Sihala and Punjab Highway Patrolling Police will also receive drone cameras for surveillance of criminal dens, protest demonstrations and terrorist hideouts.

The drone cameras are easy to operate and the built in cameras shoot videos and take photographs. The footage is transmitted live to a laptop or mobile phone device on the ground. The operator of device can guide it to change angles while shooting videos. The maximum flight time for each device is 25 minutes.

“The drone cameras will be used by police for monitoring and surveillance, especially during protests but an expert will be needed to operate it,” City Police Officer Israr Ahmed Abbasi told Dawn.

He said an IT expert from among the qualified police personnel will be trained to operate the device.

The remote controlled drone flies at a speed of 15 meters per second and captures visuals from a height of up to 60 meters.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2015

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ZAK

Jul 03, 2015 09:56am

25 min flight time is very less we should focus on satellite surveillance

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Bye Bye

Jul 03, 2015 10:40am

Drone camera operated by policemen, will it capture the videos of fellow policemen taking bribes and beating common man on roads.?

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sijaz

Jul 03, 2015 11:07am

No Way! There is such high likelihood of misuse and abuse of this instrument invading people's privacy that I hope no one approves of this move from within the powerful section. In any case such a change should not be in the hands of a few people who may be in current charge. This is about civil rights and it should go through rigorous debate before a consensus is reached and a plan implemented. For example, use allowed only as a complement to a planned raid.

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Kamal Pasha.

Jul 03, 2015 11:21am

We need latest technology to control the crime. Punjab has a very bad record of every type of crime in the country due to inefficient government.

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Asfandeyar

Jul 03, 2015 01:09pm

You don't need to be an expert to operate these miniature drones. Any RC enthusiast that has experience using RC helicopters can pilot these drones perfectly well.

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akram

Jul 03, 2015 01:17pm

In December I went to Istanbul, the pope just happened to be there at the time, during his visit to the Hagia Sophia I could see the Turkish police were using drones to monitor the area. This should have happened a while ago, they can be very handy in the hands of authorities. Another use would be monitoring so called ghost schools. Saving tax payer money in the long run.

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asad

Jul 03, 2015 10:11pm

Don't have bread , eat cake.

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