Qld Police soon deploying drones to catch hoons

Queensland Police are rolling out a new fleet of drones across the state to tack hooning and other offences.

Queensland cops are deploying drones to fight crime that could soon be used to catch hoons on the state’s busiest roads.

The speed camera in the sky could be the latest tool in the police service’s arsenal to crack down on hooning.

A fleet of Queensland Police Service drones is being rolled out across the state to tackle hooning and other offences.

And police say the hi-tech aerial surveillance is already proving its worth, helping catch dozens of offenders in a massive blitz on Gold Coast hoons.

Queensland police began toying with drones in 2012 and they have since been used to protect athletes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and to help investigate serious traffic crashes.

But more officers are now being trained as drone pilots and an increasing number of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are being deployed as crime fighting tools.

Gold Coast police have been using drones as part of Operation Tango Vinyl, a huge hooning blitz launched earlier this year following a spate of mass hoon gatherings that turned violent.

“Drones are one of the technologies we’re using to prevent and disrupt crime,” Coast police Superintendent Rhys Wildman said.

Gold Coast District Superintendent Rhys Wildman says drones are focusing on hooning, but would be used to fight other crimes. Picture: Brad Fleet

“They’re a very handy tool in our arsenal because they can get into places that are difficult for our officers to access and give us a birds eye view.

“The focus for us with the drones is around hooning but we are also using them to detect and investigate other offences.”

Supt Wildman said drones had been used as part of Operation Tango Vinyl which had led to the arrest of 99 people on 137 charges, including dangerous driving as well as drug and drink-driving offences.

The operation had also resulted in the seizure of 20 vehicles under anti-hooning laws, while almost 400 infringement notices had been issued.

Supt Wildman said the drones had been used with other resources including new hi-tech night vision cameras and Polair to successfully target hoons.

The cameras can be deployed covertly by officers or on a drone.

Supt Wildman said the drones and ‘lowlight’ cameras were being used in concert with new deeming laws that forced hoons to prove they were not driving their vehicle at the time of an offence.

He said mass gatherings of hoons had stopped since the Operation Tango Vinyl blitz began in April.

Police Minister Mark Ryan has said an expanded police drone fleet, along with the night-vision cameras and new laws, will play a key role in the war on hooning.