Drones in demonstrations: what are the conditions of use for law enforcement?

William Molinié, editing by Loane Nader // photo credit: Kiran Ridley / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP 06:12, 06 June 2023

In a few hours, many demonstrations will take place in the French streets against the pension reform adopted on April 14. Between 400,000 and 600,000 people are expected throughout the France, including 40,000 and 70,000 in the capital alone. On the occasion of this 14th day of national mobilization, the police plan to use drones to facilitate the management of processions of demonstrators. But the use of drones by the police is very regulated and it is detailed in an internal document of 28 pages that Europe 1 was able to obtain.

The instructions were issued at the end of April and are formal: the retention period of the images can not exceed seven days unless an administrative or judicial procedure is opened in the meantime. And when the interior of homes or their entrance is filmed for operational needs, this period is reduced to 48 hours. Systematically, the drone pilot is required to make a detailed and detailed report to his hierarchy when an event is filmed.

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No facial recognition

In addition, the latter must initially have completed training consisting of theory and practice, and then be up to date with at least 20 hours of flight time on mission or training each year. The regulation of the use of drones also prohibits the capture of sound, and the recorded videos can not then be cross-referenced with facial recognition software. Finally, the remote pilot is the guarantor of the safety of his drone. He alone is able to decide at any time to interrupt the flight or to continue it depending on the aeronautical conditions.