Drone use by the Metropolitan Police Service

Questions to the Mayor of London – answered at on 16 March 2021.

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Photo of Siân Berry Siân Berry Green

Has the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) used drones to monitor gatherings of Londoners in the last twelve months? Could you provide details of the legal basis, safety policies and risk assessments, and the policies for image collection and retention for any such uses.

Photo of Sadiq Khan Sadiq Khan Mayor of London

The Met drones have been deployed for coverage of crime scenes, providing aerial support for pre-planned operations, surveying premises and providing live footage of operational deployments to assist command decision making and therefore support a wider policing plan. However, this has not included monitoring of gatherings of Londoners outside of protest or public order events.

Regarding the legal basis, safety policies and risk assessments; the Met complies with the law, as determined by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The Met has a permission to fly from the CAA and operational deployments comply with strict rules set and governed by the CAA.

With regard to safety policies and risk assessments, the Met use of drones has a comprehensive corporate risk assessment in accordance with the Health & Safely legal framework. This risk assessment is also contained within their Operational Authorisation for deployment from the CAA. All Met pilots have passed a CAA accredited qualification, have completed further extensive training, maintain minimum flight hours to retain pilot flight status, and undertake yearly continued professional development.

With regard to the policies for image collection and retention, any drone data is handled in accordance with existing data handling laws and Met policies. Videos and photographs are retained for the duration of the investigation or as mandated by other relevant legislation or regulations.