06:00 JST, August 25, 2024
The government plans to develop a drone equipped with artificial intelligence and cameras that can automatically identify suspicious persons when flying over disaster areas.
In previous disasters, criminal acts such as burglaries have been identified in areas that were empty after residents were evacuated.
The government plans to use AI-enabled drones to supplement police patrols and enhance crime prevention efforts in disaster areas. If the drone detects a person or vehicle while patrolling the sky, it will respond to the movement and display the image on a monitor in a remote location.
A drone equipped with only a camera needs to be monitored at all times. A drone with AI, on the other hand, can detect suspicious persons or vehicles on its own and then warn the drone operators.
Private security companies and others have already developed and tested AI drones. The government plans to deploy its own AI drones to survey disaster areas as soon as possible, and is also considering using private sector technology.
Some of the drones developed by the private sector are autonomous drones that automatically follow suspicious persons after they are detected. The government plans to have the Prefectural Police Headquarters use these types of drones.
Because wireless drones can only fly for a short time, the government is also considering deploying drones that are powered by wired cables and can therefore have longer flight times.
The government is focusing on drone patrols in disaster areas, as there have been a number of cases of homes and vehicles being broken into and broken into after residents evacuated areas hit by major earthquakes and tsunamis.
Such criminal acts have also been reported in Wajima and Suzu in Ishikawa Prefecture, which were hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January.
The government has concluded that immediate action must be taken to prevent crimes in such disaster-affected areas.
