Up, up and away: An officer from the police force’s Air Operation Drone Unit releasing a drone to help them with their day-to-day operations.
Johor government agencies use drone technology to elevate their efficiency in combating crime and improving response to emergency situations
DRONE technology advancements have aided government enforcement agencies in making time-consuming tasks not only easier, but also faster and safer for their personnel.
Three agencies that use drones extensively are the police, Fire and Rescue Department and the Environment Department (DOE).
For the police force especially, the use of drones has been a huge help in surveillance and investigations, which help to combat crime.
ALSO READ: Government to buy 117 UAVs, drones to guard nation's borders
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said if the police received information about a location of drug activities, the drones would be sent out first to get visual confirmation.
“We also want to see routes we can use to enter and exit an area during an operation,” he said.
Johor police headquarters currently have five drones handled by five officers who have been trained and certified by the Air Operation (PGU) Drone Unit.
Two police drone unit members making pre-flight preparations that include ensuring drones are fully charged.
“The drones are given to four departments, one each for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) and the Special Branch Department, while two are for the Public Affairs Department,” he said.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said the CID team used drones to locate hotspots and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed around crime scenes in their investigations.
“Previously, our detectives had to go on foot or motorcycle or use multi-purpose vehicles in search of premises with CCTV near a crime scene to collect evidence.
“Now, they just fly a drone to find these premises,” he explained.
ALSO READ: Police drones deployed to monitor SOP compliance
He added that there were cases where drones had helped to track down criminals on the run.
The Johor police, Comm Kamarul Zaman said, did not have a specialised drone unit, as they worked closely with the PGU Drone Unit from Bukit Aman.
“Our drones have limited range and flight time.
Drones are useful in monitoring wind directions and locating hotspot areas to control bush fires as well as in searching for stranded flood victims or surveying roads cut off during floods (below).
“If we need something more durable, we will call Bukit Aman which has drones that are more capable of long-distance flights and equipped with advanced specifications,” he added.
Johor Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Yahaya Madis said its drone unit, introduced in July last year, was managed by two certified drone pilots.
“The unit was introduced to help with cases of missing people and drowning, surveying an area for open burning as well as identifying the level of destruction caused by fire.
“We also use these drones during floods to identify a safe path for our personnel when they are out rescuing stranded families, individuals and animals,” he said.
Yahaya said that among the flooding incidents the drone unit had helped with were at Kampung Pudu, Kampung Jawa and Kampung Simpang Loi in Segamat in January.
“We also helped to monitor the flood situation in Kampung Kundang Ulu and Kampung Pogoh in Tangkak as well as the fire incident at Lotte Ube Synthetic Rubber Sdn Bhd plant at the Tanjung Langsat industrial park.
“The drone unit helped as well to monitor a forest fire at Jalan Sedili Kecil and a capsized boat in Tanjung Balau, both of which were in Kota Tinggi,” he added.
Drone technology, said Yahaya, had become an important part of the fire department.
He said the department had improved in terms of response time during its operations, when dealing with burning buildings, open burning, forest fires and drowning cases.
“The department strongly believes that government agencies, especially those involved in law enforcement and rescue operations, need to adapt to the changes brought about by the advancement of technology.
“We have to catch up with the changes and the department sees the use of drones as a proactive measure in easing the day-to-day tasks of the force,” he added.
Meanwhile, Johor DOE director Dr Mohd Famey Yusoff said the government should provide an allocation for drone unit maintenance and pilot training.
“The use of drones has its own added value towards improving the information delivery system from the government to the general public.
“Generally these drones are used for enforcement and surveillance work, besides the awareness programmes that we carry out,” he said.
Famey added that the drones were operated by DOE officers who had been trained to fly the machine.
