The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) launched on Wednesday, Oct. 26, a drone squadron that will help the police in monitoring different areas in the city, including cemeteries for the upcoming “Undas 2022.”
QCPD director Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III led the launching activity in Camp Karingal, Barangay Sikatuna Village. He also demonstrated how the drones are operated.
“We will deploy drones as they are very useful to possess the ability to reach areas by just merely controlling them. Also, they can be used for surveillance and other operations pertaining to police works,” the police chief said.
According to the QCPD, the squadron consists of six teams led by Lt. Virgilio Mendoza, and the trained drone pilot operators will be first deployed during “Undas 2022” to send live feed to the command center.
It said the drones will be deployed to monitor different cemeteries, columbaria, and places of convergence in the city for anti-crime operations.
The drones will also be utilized to track down criminals, especially this holiday season, it added.
The QCPD also said that there are already 20 drones deployed in five cemeteries to serve as the police’s eye in the sky.
“The plan is to provide tablets in patrol cars so that we can stream back the video of the drones to their respective deployment. A drone operator must be on board so that they can monitor and feedback the status of drones in their places of engagement. With that view in the sky, they can easily monitor and estimate the number of crowds, the traffic situation and the number of deployed personnel, and they can follow the activities on the ground,” Torre said.