Meanwhile, Amazon is stymied in commercializing drones.
AB Wire
NEW DELHI: Police in Uttar Pradesh said Tuesday they have a new weapon for controlling unruly protesters: drones armed with weaponized pepper spray.
Yashasvi Yadav, police chief of Lucknow, the state capital, told AFP that his officers successfully test-flew the newly purchased drones with the goal of better crowd control.
“The results were brilliant. We have managed to work out how to use it to precisely target the mob in winds and congested areas,” Yadav told AFP.
“Pepper is non-lethal but very effective in mob control. We can spray from different heights to have maximum results,” he continued.
The city’s law enforcement authorities bought five drones at the cost of about $9,600 each, and plan to introduce them later this month.
AFP reported the unmanned drones are also equipped with high-resolution cameras. They can each carry 4.4 pounds of pepper and fly within a one kilometer radius of the operator.
Lucknow police had previously used the drones for surveillance.
Drone use is becoming more prevalent in India and around the world. They are now being tested and used by companies such as Amazon for home delivery and Google for the proliferation of free, accessible internet.
The implementation of drones as a tool for the police is sure to rankle many, but only time will tell if Lucknow will be able to implement them constructively to aid in peacefully quelling any protests that escalate past the point of pacifism.
India is a nation of 1.2 billion people, and while peaceful protests are honored on a daily basis, many boil over to violence, as well.
This news of the pepper spray use of drones is sure to also irk companies like Amazon, who have been obstructed by the US government in developing drones for home and business deliveries. Amazon has even shifted their R&D base to British Columbia in Canada just over the border, as it gives them more flexibility in trying out new technology.
While countries like India, who are relative newcomers to the drone technology are going about full steam to maximize its capabilities and put it to use to counter their domestic issues, advanced nations like the US are still coming to grips with tedious laws and regulations that govern the use of drones. In the US, while individuals can make drones for a few hundred dollars and use it too for recreational purposes, companies have a tough time in commercializing it.