Blighty’s slate grey skies may soon be peppered with DroneCops, after it was revealed by The Times that drones have been given the go ahead for “high-risk” criminal investigations by UK police.

More than a quarter of the 43 police forces in England and Wales are mulling whether to bring in drones to help them tackle burglaries and sieges, according to a report in the The Times—which was briefed on the plans.

However, the quadcopters could also be used by cops to, for example, allow them to eyeball protesters, in a move that is likely to raise concern among privacy campaigners.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) lead on drones, Steve Barry, told the newspaper that a trial carried out by Sussex and Surrey forces had proved successful. The test involved the use of five Aeryon SkyRanger drones at the cost of £250,000, paid for from a grant from the Police Innovation Fund.

He said that drones “can be efficient and effective” when cops are searching the streets for suspects or working out how to deal with a siege. “You could send up the drone and use the videolink before making a decision how to proceed,” Barry added.

Poor weather conditions or issues with battery life could scupper such operations, however.

Barry—who is assistant chief constable at Sussex Police—attempted to nullify privacy concerns by claiming that “Low-level crime would not justify a drone being deployed over back gardens of people’s houses.”

He said cops were to be warned “to be clear about the purpose and legitimacy of deploying the drone” based on the type of crime they were investigating.

Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch told Ars that such deployment of drones by UK police needed careful consideration.

“That there is so little information about drones, what they can do and what they can see causes anxiety to many people. Today’s announcement that the police will deploy these flying eyes as an alternative to helicopters and dogs when investigating crime and policing public events will only add to this anxiety," BBW's chief exec Renate Samson told us.

“Without published guidelines and proper conversation with the public about when and how this technology will be used the police could find themselves fielding complaints about infringements to privacy rather than reassuring the public that the technology is keeping them safe.”

We contacted the NPCC seeking comment, but at the time of publishing they had not responded.

Update:

An NPCC spokesperson responded to Ars with the following statement after publication of this story:

Some police forces in the UK are looking into the use of drones to see if they are an effective and less costly alternative to traditional policing methods; such as aerial and foot patrols or CCTV. Trials are ongoing and the police service is developing national guidance for the use of drones. Their operation is governed by Civil Aviation Authority regulations, as well as local restrictions concerning the use of drones at airports, major road networks and sea ports.

The spokesperson added that the NPCC was working closely with the Home Office to see if drones could "enhance operational capability in law enforcement and counter terrorist work, including for support for emergency response or for public order events."