When it comes to modern security developments, drone technology is the best option available and offers numerous security and protection options for any client.
Read: How Drones Are Used In Executive Protection
Drones in Executive Protection
Drones are used in private security and executive protection. Below are some of the benefits of drone technology in security services.
Programmed Estate and Facility Patrols
Drones can provide thorough security if you have an estate or a corporate campus, such as production studios or Google and Facebook’s headquarters. In fact, you can program the drones to do patrols of the facilities. This means the drone can patrol the outside perimeter of the property to make sure criminals or trespassers cannot get inside the protected space and ensure that everything is going well inside the property. Additionally, the entire patrol can be filmed or live-streamed back to a security command center monitoring the patrol from a control room. Finally, it can be set up that instead of a protection agent doing the patrol themselves, the drone does it all automatically and remotely.
Drone Features
Drones also do 3D mapping. Whenever a risk assessment is carried out, a 3D map can be created of the property, and the professionals can spot and point out any security vulnerabilities or gaps through the 3D map.
Drones either have a spotlight, a speaker, or a strobe light. These options can be advantageous when dissuading criminals from their illegal activity. The drone technically can go 50 to 60 miles an hour, so if you have a large estate or property, the drone can get out to a bad guy who has breached the property much faster than a security agent could. Via speakers or spotlight, the drone can communicate with the intruder that they need to leave the property and that security is aware of their unwanted and illegal presence and videotape and take pictures of the individual.
If the intruder hides in a bush or garden area, they will still not be hidden from the drone. Many of the best drone models come with 640 thermal imaging, so whether it is broad daylight or at night, the thermal camera will pick up the heat of the body and display where they are hiding.
Some drones will operate 24/7 and in the rain, as some models have unique waterproofing. This means the security team rarely needs to act with a drone, except under extreme weather conditions when it may not be prudent to fly the device.
Surveillance and Intelligence Gathering
The drone can also be used in investigations, such as surveillance. For example, if there is a high-profile client that is being stalked, the head of security can figure out where the stalker is and send a drone to their location and monitor what the stalker is doing and where they going. The drone can also be very stealth and will not necessarily attract the criminal’s attention. In some cases, it can be flown a hundred feet overhead and from a great distance, and then the video can be zoomed in so much that even a threatening letter they might be holding can be read. Yet the bad guy will never even know they are being surveilled.
A high-quality protection company will carry out an ‘advance,’ meaning that intelligence gathering, location visits, and threat assessments are carried out in locations where the client will be traveling. This allows agents to figure out escape paths or access to panic rooms, as well as the routes available to get to safety. All of this can be done by drones, including figuring out potential issues that might arise, such as turning in the road that might be of concern. If an advance agent is there ahead of time, the information and video can be live-streamed to their cell phone or the command center.
Drones can be used in a surveillance capacity to investigate threats. If the protection team has the geographical data on the individual believed to be making the threats, they can get a drone out to monitor the individual’s activities including what kind of vehicle they drive. This can be done remotely and subtly so the individual in question has no idea that they are being watched.
Event Protection
Drone technology is also instrumental when it comes to event security. Drones can offer enhanced protection and immediate threat detection for any type of event, from a fashion show to a sporting event. In addition, drones can fly for upwards of forty minutes and provide ‘overwatch,’ which means the security team is looking for any potential bad guys or disgruntled individuals who could cause problems at or around the event venue. What is spotted can then be quickly communicated to security personnel on the ground, and appropriate action is taken.
Office and Estate Protection
Estate protection is a crucial use for drones regarding private security. Of course, armed protection agents will already be on the property keeping the client and their family safe. But drones offer an enhanced guarantee that is truly 24/7. The drone can complete hourly patrols and communicate to the intruder without risk of harm to the security officer, filming simultaneously so that the intruder is known to the agent and law enforcement.Similarly, drones can be used for corporate offices, which is critical for CEOs and executive protection. If the office is inside a building, you cannot rely alone upon drones, but they can be integrated with corporate security.
And if your office occupies an entire building, drones can provide enhanced protection of the building and surrounding areas.
Other Security Operations
Many may not realize it, but certain drones can be utilized for indoor operations. For example, a drone can be sent in to locate a dangerous individual inside a building. This means that an agent is not put in unnecessary danger, but the criminal can still be found quickly.
Another unexpected use is for search and rescue operations. In remote areas outdoors, drones can cover vast areas of land to find someone lost or injured in the wilderness or perhaps has been abducted by their abductor in a remote location. Again, this is much more efficient than having search and rescue groups looking on foot.
International travel can be dangerous for some clients, and drones provide an easy way to gather information on the region. This allows the security detail to become acquainted with the area before the client ever sets foot there, which means travel routes are preplanned, and the security team always knows how to get the client out of dangerous situations no matter which country they are in.