Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have integrated anti drone systems and surveillance drones operating across the province into the Command and Control Centre of Safe City Peshawar, a step that places live aerial footage from any part of the province in front of senior officers at a single location. With Safe City cameras, anti drone systems, and police drones now connected, video and surveillance feeds from drones flying during field operations carried out by the police and the Counter Terrorism Department can be watched in real time at the centre, which allows information to be shared quickly between officers on the ground and commanders in Peshawar.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Safe Cities Project Director Deputy Inspector General Ijaz Ahmad explained the arrangement at a news conference held at the Command and Control Centre. He said hostile quadcopters and drones will not only be detected promptly under the new system but also neutralised. Anti drone systems have already been deployed in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Tank, and Bannu to meet changing security needs, and all of them are now linked to the centre. Anti drone guns have also been issued to police personnel posted in remote and sensitive areas. In addition, the monitoring and control of police surveillance drones across the province has been brought into the same central system, so that live footage captured during an operation in any area reaches senior police officers directly and helps them support the personnel in the field.
The Deputy Inspector General acknowledged that a lack of internet connectivity in some parts of the province remains a challenge for live transmission, and said steps are being taken together with the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission to address the problem. He described the combined use of drone surveillance, anti drone systems, and centralised monitoring as a way to improve operational capability, security surveillance, and the response to militant threats, adding that making policing more coordinated and modern through technology is a need of the present time, and that the Safe Cities project is providing technical support to the provincial police for this purpose.
Alongside the technology integration, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have created a specialised human resource division trained in unmanned aerial vehicle operations, which officials describe as the first of its kind set up by a police department in the country. The division was established in response to the growing use of drones by hostile groups, whose methods have moved from surveillance and ammunition drops towards swarm attacks. Its personnel have been trained in drone operation, aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering, the protection of sensitive installations, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicle technology in high risk operations, and they are also able to carry out electronic warfare against hostile drones. An official said the police recognised that equipment alone is not enough, and that trained personnel who can operate and counter these systems are just as important as the systems themselves.
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