Japan's Metropolitan Police Department announced that they have successfully created possibly the world's first anti-drone squad. This new development came in response to the emergence of drone technologies as a new challenge, especially for urban law enforcement. A U.S. police helicopter, for instance, was recently hampered by a flying drone as it pursued an armed criminal in Hollywood, HNGN previously reported.
Japan has banned drones in certain locations such as the Imperial Palace and the prime minister's residence through the passage of the Aviation Law last Thursday. For this purpose, the Tokyo Police will employ anti-drone flying machines that can catch rogue drones with a 3-by-2-meter net. The first drone took to the skies last week for a trial operation. Watch it catch a white quadcopter in the video below.
"Terrorist attacks using drones carrying explosives are a possibility," a spokesperson for Tokyo Police's Security Bureau told the Asahi Shimbun. "We hope to defend the nation's functions with the worst-case scenario in mind."
Tokyo Police revealed some semblance of standard procedure in apprehending suspicious unmanned flying devices. Before casting the net, police would purportedly use a loudspeaker to warn the drone's pilot to leave and stop its flight before the anti-drone device launches a pursuit, New York Daily News reported.
Japanese authorities have been stepping up anti-drone initiatives after they discovered a drone carrying a radioactive material on the roof of the prime minister's home last April.
