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UK Criminals Use Drones To Case Burglary Targets

posted by takyon on Wednesday May 20 2015, @12:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the flying-internet-of-cypherpunk-criminals dept.

kaszz writes:

Burglars in the UK are sending unmanned drones over houses in order to identify potential targets, police have warned. Suffolk Constabulary confirmed it had received at least one report of drones being used by burglars for surveillance of properties ("casing the joint"). Paul Ford, secretary of the Police Federation National Detectives Forum, said: "Drones can be noisy and very visible so hopefully criminals risk giving themselves away. If members of the public observe drones being used in areas which make them suspicious they should contact police using the 101 non-emergency number to report it."

Why not just shoot them down? "Oops I thought it was a bird." The task can surely be automated. Obligatory xkcd.

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by lars on Wednesday May 20 2015, @03:58AM

    by lars (4376) on Wednesday May 20 2015, @03:58AM (#185291)

    If I can't afford a drone, I doubt the criminal breaking into my house can either. Should they, one would think there would be a lot of data about where the drone had been stored on it, or the computer used to control it. If anything, it would make them easier to catch, and know where they had been allowing for more charges, and easier prosecution.

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  • (Score: 2) by quadrox on Wednesday May 20 2015, @12:45PM

    by quadrox (315) on Wednesday May 20 2015, @12:45PM (#185427)

    wow, what a load of un-insightful crap.

    1) Thieves and burglars do what they do because it is easer than real work. This doesn't necessarily mean that they make more money than , but the smart ones probably will.
    2) Why ever would the drone store any data about where it has been or something like that? At most you will find the last half hour of video that has been recorded (if it isn't live streamed), and that will only show you the approach to your house. And if you take the time to watch it, I'm quite sure the criminals will be long gone by then, since they will realize that the drone is no longer under their control.

    Now sure, there might be some criminals that would completely mess it up - there are plenty of stupid criminals after all - but if I were you I would show more concerns towards the smarter criminals.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by M. Baranczak on Wednesday May 20 2015, @02:03PM

    by M. Baranczak (1673) on Wednesday May 20 2015, @02:03PM (#185470)

    If I can't afford a drone, I doubt the criminal breaking into my house can either.

    A small drone with a camera can be bought for a hundred American bucks. I'm sure they can't be much more expensive in Britain. If you can't afford that, then you probably have nothing worth stealing, so you'll be OK.

    • (Score: 1) by lars on Wednesday May 20 2015, @09:54PM

      by lars (4376) on Wednesday May 20 2015, @09:54PM (#185744)

      Don't those only work indoor because of wind?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @07:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 20 2015, @07:39PM (#185669)

    What makes you think the criminals would be buying the drone? These are burglars we are talking about.

    And if you really can't afford a drone (they aren't that expensive), then perhaps you wouldn't be a target of this anyway.