Drones Command Spotlight at Europe’s Largest Police Expo

Less than a week after the deadly terrorist attacks that massacred 129 people across Paris, the city played host to a convention focusing on state security with drone technology taking center stage.

The 19^th Worldwide Exhibition of State Security – Milipol – opened last week to heightened security following the Paris attacks and exhibitors say the topic of drones hung heavily in the air as one of the best bets for counter-terrorism.

“Many police forces are looking to beef up their anti-terrorism and surveillance arsenals. And according to several drone manufacturers, many police forces are turning to them,” writes Eric Markowitz for International Business Times.

“In light of the recent attacks, more European countries may be open to the idea of militarized police forces,” Markowitz added, “and American firms that produce [police drones] are expecting a boom in demand.”

For example, German drone manufacturer AirRobot reports an increase in police inquiries about its line of surveillance UAVs following the Parisian terror attacks. “The emails keep coming in over the last few days,” a company official told IBT. “To be honest, I’m a little behind. The demand is increasing.”

Another Milipol exhibitor, French drone startup Aeraccess, recently concluded an agreement with the French national police’s elite counterterrorism squad, RAID, to produce an antiterrorism drone, which can be customized with tools or weapons weighing up to 2 kilograms.

As if to underline the importance of drone tech at Milipol, the exhibition even included a photo of a drone in its logo. A key part of the conference included a press conference by the Innovation Commission 2030, a French task force created to promote economic and security advances with seven “World Innovation Challenges.”

A Commission statement at Milipol emphasized the role of emerging tech like drones as a key to a more secure future.

“The projects will offer innovative solutions that aim to protect actively or even in a passive way sensitive sites and populations against aggression as well as general crisis management. The answers to these “ambition” tasks can either be accomplished thanks to relevant hardware (e.g. sensors, robots, drones, embedded systems, distributed as safe and pre-secured) or through services and software (e.g. cyber security, secure communications and resilient network system as well as strong authentication systems and behavioral analysis).”

To further emphasize the role of drones in the future of European police operations, a UAV company won the exhibition’s Startup Challenge, a contest that “rewards the startup that will present the most innovative cyber solution in regards to the fight against crime.”

Seolane Innovation, a French startup, took the prize with Drone’Int, an anti-drone technology designed to “detect, locate and stop drone from getting sensitive information.”