SEOUL: South Korean police have been using drones to assist in searches for missing individuals, in one case allowing Gyeonggi officers to locate a woman in just half an hour, according to a local media outlet on Sunday.
Local daily Money Today described some successful cases of drone-assisted search operations, such as the disappearance of a 45-year-old woman with intellectual disabilities on July 14 in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.
The woman's father called the police and said she went missing during their visit to the hospital at around 10:30 a.m., and the police located her at around 10:57 a.m. using a drone. Officers who were searching on the ground were notified of her location and were able to send her back to her father.
Another missing-person case in the same city saw drones locate a 15-year-old boy who had run away from home. The search took just over an hour.
Police have been expanding drone use in their operations, with the National Police Agency allocating 4.2 billion won ($3 million) to drone-assisted patrols this year, up 950 million won from last year's budget.
In June, the NPA dispatched "AI patrol cars" equipped with artificial intelligence-assisted surveillance systems and drones in the western part of Seoul. This was a test run for the tech-augmented police patrols, and the feedback will be utilised to upgrade the system.
Highway patrol units of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency in the southwest are currently using drones to supplement ground patrols, and the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency in the southeastern region adopted a drone surveillance system for highway patrols in July. - Korean Herald/ANN
