[Cyberpunk] War on Drones – Organized Crime vs Police

What once was cyberpunk sci-fi has now turned into reality. We are living in the early cyberpunk era right now. We have state surveillance, cyberwars, social media culture everywhere, electronic prosthetics, the threat of AI, cryptos, worldwide environmental endangerment and so much more.

High-tech low-life is showing itself in different ways, for example through the rising economic inequalities, rising organized crimes and specifically organized crime using new technology like drones.

Example 1: Criminals using drones in Sweden

In Sweden, the police are well aware that criminals have been using drones to spy on them in multiple cities, learning their driving routines so that they can carry out their criminal activities in secret (Radio Sweden Broadcast). The drones are waiting outside the police station in the mornings before the police dispatches and follow the cars around.

Example 2: ISIS dropping bombs with drones

There have also been videos of ISIS dropping bombs with drones (Daily Telegraph Australia), and whether if it’s propaganda or real, it definitely could happen in future conflicts especially as technology advances.

Twitter post (I couldn’t find a believable source for this)

War on Drones – Japan, Netherlands & The Middle East

But what are some of the ways the police can counter these drones controlled by criminals? Below are some of the rising technologies and tactics being explored around the world to fight the drones.

In Tokyo, Japan the police have explored using net-carrying drones to catch other drones mid-air (Telegraph UK).

the police have explored using net-carrying drones to catch other drones mid-air (Telegraph UK). In the Netherlands , the police are training eagles to take down drones (BBC News).

, the police are training eagles to take down drones (BBC News). An Australian company has sold anti-drone weapons to middle-eastern countries that need to fight drone attacks (Drastic News). Some terrorists have used drones to carry explosives.

The Future

While it can be unnerving that criminals are using drones, the best scenario we can hope for is that the development of technology will mean that machines will fight machines instead of losing human lives.

More cyberpunk

If you’re interested in reading more about cyberpunk in real-life you can check out my other post about cyberpunk scenes in the Hong Kong 2019 protest.