The Police Service of Northern Ireland has confirmed that the UAS technology was used to help keep the community, police and Army officers safe as a “small, viable device” was defused in Jamaica Street in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.Known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), three of the small remote controlled aircraft were purchased by the PSNI at a cost of £1m ahead of last June’s meeting of world leaders.
They were used to fly over the area around the summit venue to ensure the protection of the visiting dignitaries.
A number of homes had to be evacuated during yesterday’s alert and the road closed when the suspect object was reported to police at around 2.30pm. Locals raised the alarm after seeing an object being thrown at two men in the street.
The unmanned aircraft, operated by a member of the PSNI Air Support Unit, flew over the device for an aerial inspection, relaying images back to bomb disposal officers before it was defused.
A PSNI spokesman said: “As part of the response and in order to keep the community, police and Army officers safe a limited aerial capability was required.
“These systems are flown in accordance with Civil Aviation Authority approval.”
The device was taken away. Residents were allowed back into their homes and the road reopened around 8pm.
The UAS are operated by trained security personnel within the line of sight of the craft.
Following this latest policing deployment, UAS may be used in both urban and rural environments for traffic management, searches for missing or wanted persons, public order situations and for evidence gathering. After the decision to purchase three drones was made in April this year, Policing Board chair Brian Rea described the new equipment as “a valuable asset” to the PSNI in policing a range of situations.
A full review of the use of the UAS will be carried out by the office of the Oversight Commissioner after a year of operation to assess their effectiveness.
Source: Belfast Telegraph