Police drones will be deployed at beaches in South Gyeongsang Province to prevent crime and ensure the safety of summer vacationers. The South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency's wide-area prevention patrol unit said Tuesday it would concentrate its drone team at Gwangam Beach in Changwon and Gujora Beach in Geoje for special public-safety operations during the summer holiday season.
The drones will monitor blind spots that are difficult to check from the ground — including areas around the beaches, densely crowded zones and breakwaters — allowing police to respond proactively to crime and safety incidents.
The patrols will use domestically made drones that have passed a security review by the Korean National Police Agency. The drone team consists of five officers, including those holding professional drone-pilot licenses. The drone cameras will be used solely for real-time situational awareness; footage will be recorded only when there are signs of suspected criminal activity — such as vehicle break-ins or illegal filming — following established procedures, and routine patrol footage will not be stored.
If a drone detects signs of a crime or a fleeing suspect during patrol, it will share the situation in real time with the 112 emergency operations center at the relevant police station, and the nearest patrol car will be dispatched to respond. The cameras mounted on the drones can zoom in on objects up to 1.5 kilometers away. A drone control vehicle equipped with a large monitor will also be stationed at the scene so commanders can watch aerial footage and direct the response.
A speaker system on each drone also allows officers to broadcast warnings to beachgoers who approach restricted areas or danger zones.
The South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency's drone team, established in February, has already been deployed at various events and disaster scenes. During this year's Jinhae Gunhangje naval festival, the team monitored crowd density and traffic congestion from the air to help position police personnel.
It also emerged recently that the team helped rescue a collapsed citizen at a wildfire scene in Jinhae last spring. After hearing a radio call about the wildfire while on a ground patrol, the drone team moved to the scene and began an aerial search. While fire department crews focused their firefighting efforts on areas where the flames were spreading, the drone team concentrated on smoke-free zones thought to be near the fire's point of origin.
During the search, a drone camera captured footage of a person lying on the ground. The team zoomed in to assess the person's condition and relayed the exact location to fire department authorities through the Jinhae Police Station's 112 operations center. Firefighters who entered the scene found the collapsed citizen and rescued them safely. The officers on the drone team who contributed to the rescue were awarded a commendation from the commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency.
"We will continue to reduce security blind spots through proactive crime-prevention activities using drones," South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency Commissioner Kim Jong-cheol said. "We will do our utmost to manage safety on the ground so that residents and tourists visiting vacation spots across the province can enjoy their holidays with peace of mind."
ook967@heraldcorp.com
