Met Launches Drones to Respond Rapidly to 999 Calls

Published: 23 October 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

The Metropolitan Police in London is trialling a new programme that will see remote drones launched autonomously from the tops of buildings to respond to 999 calls, providing faster aerial support for officers on the ground. The initiative, named Drone as First Responder (DFR), represents a significant step in using technology to improve policing efficiency, situational awareness, and community safety.

Equipped with high-definition cameras, the drones are designed to attend crime scenes and stream live footage back to officers. The technology is expected to be both cheaper and faster than traditional helicopter deployments, with drones able to reach an incident within two minutes of activation.

The Met anticipates that the drones will be deployed in a variety of emergencies. They could assist in searches for missing persons, track suspects, or provide crucial oversight at major incidents where an aerial perspective offers a clearer understanding of events on the ground. By doing so, officers can make better-informed decisions about the number of personnel needed, the type of response required, and how to secure evidence quickly and efficiently.

Unlike conventional drones, which require operators to control them manually, the Met’s autonomous drones are stationed on rooftops across London. When activated, they fly automatically to the scene, where an officer at a command unit assumes control to capture the necessary footage before the drone returns to its base.

The programme has already been launched in Islington and will soon expand to cover the West End and Hyde Park. While other police forces, including Norfolk, Cleveland, and Hampshire, have experimented with drones, this is the first time the technology will be deployed in such a dense, inner-city environment in the UK.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, national lead for drones, emphasised the operational benefits of aerial support. “Aerial support to policing has always added huge value, because it gives us the ability to make informed decisions about deployment and look for people – that is a lot harder to do on the ground,” he said. “By getting that immediate response with a drone, we’re going to have more precise information. We’re capturing the best evidence at the very earliest opportunity, but most importantly, where scenes are chaotic or witnesses are confused, it allows us to inform our own decisions about how many officers, which assets we should deploy, and critically, if suspects or offenders are making away from the scene, we can quickly identify them and bring them into custody without the need for large, expansive area searches.”

Superintendent Taryn Evans, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council drones programme, described the initiative as a major advancement in policing technology. “This is an exciting opportunity to bring the many benefits and efficiencies of the Drone as First Responder programme to London, supporting both officer and community safety,” Evans said. “We’ve been running trials of the programme in several different police forces with a range of operating environments from urban to rural, and the technology has proven to be a game-changer in many incidents. This pilot with the Met brings together our two years of learning and development. I look forward to seeing how it can enhance the operational response.”

The DFR programme aims not only to improve operational efficiency but also to enhance public safety. By providing rapid situational awareness, the drones can help de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, ensure that officers arrive equipped with critical intelligence, and reduce the risk to both the public and law enforcement personnel.

While the technology remains in its trial phase, early results suggest it could transform urban policing. The Met’s adoption of autonomous drones demonstrates a growing commitment to integrating innovative solutions into law enforcement, particularly in crowded and complex city environments where traditional methods may be slower or less effective.

If successful, the programme could serve as a model for other UK cities and potentially internationally, illustrating the benefits of rapid-response, drone-based support for police operations. Observers note that as drone technology continues to evolve, the ability to deploy them efficiently, safely, and with minimal disruption could redefine the way emergency services respond to incidents in real time.