Guatemala's police report their first arrest with drone support under a new patrol pilot

Guatemala's National Civil Police reported their first arrest with drone support under the surveillance pilot that began on 9 November in Guatemala City and parts of the metropolitan area, Prensa Libre reported.

A 25-year-old man was detained in zone 7 minutes after allegedly robbing a 70-year-old woman of her mobile phone. The PNC attributed the identification and location of the suspect to the aerial surveillance. His responsibility is to be established through the courts.

The drones fly monitoring routes over high-traffic corridors including calzada Roosevelt, calzada San Juan, bulevar Liberación, avenida Petapa and the road to El Salvador. Subcommissioner Jorge Aguilar said the devices operate in three time slots chosen by vehicle traffic, and that ground patrols are reinforced when the drones are not flying.

On Guatevisión's Impacto Directo programme, analysts said the technology can help detect crimes, but that its effectiveness depends on the response capacity of the agents deployed on the ground.