Drone instrumental in finding missing man

Drone with camera fitted (stock image)

A police drone recently proved instrumental in finding a missing man in Rochdale on 25 June, after officers received reports of a man acting suspiciously.

No immediate threats had been reported and, as the person was seen in a large area of open land, the drone unit was contacted to investigate the matter further.

On further investigation, the man was found to be a vulnerable person. Drone pilots viewing the video footage gave a live-commentary to the ground-based officers, to point them in the direction of the man’s exact location and monitor him while they arrived on scene.

He was concealing himself behind a dry-stone wall, but with the help of the live feed, district officers were quickly directed to the man, where he was reunited with his family and escorted to a safe place.

PC John Williams, GMP’s Flight Safety Officer and Chief Drone Pilot, said: “This was a great effort from everyone involved and special thanks must go to my whole team within the drone unit who were able to provide officers with the specialist equipment needed to resolve the situation quickly.

“Due to the size of the area we needed to search, it would have taken officers many hours on foot, but the drone was able to complete this search within a short period of time.

“This incident could have ended in tragedy, but thankfully was quickly and safely resolved.”