Authorities in Australia are moving to reassure the public that police drones now flying over a town in north-west NSW will not be used for everyday surveillance. A six-month trial will see officers at the PolAir base at Sydney’s Bankstown Airport remotely controlling drones that can be launched from a rooftop in Moree.
NSW Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said the airborne cameras would be used to feed back live video to assist police on the ground. “This is about keeping the community safe and tackling crime, it has nothing to do with surveillance,” she said.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the drones would be used in a similar way to helicopters or planes.
“This is not about surveillance, it is the ability to put up remotely piloted aircraft for an emergency where there is an operational matter like a break and enter,” he said. But the commissioner appeared to contradict his position on when the drones would be in the air when asked about privacy issues. “We will not be recording flights when they are up in the air unless they are responding to a particular incident that is a crime,” he said. “Its not going to be flying around and looking into people’s backyards.
Commissioner Lanyon said Moree was one of the first places he visited after taking over the state’s top policing role. “There had been a number of serious crimes out here,” he said.
“They have a disproportionate impact on a community like Moree.
“We needed somewhere to trial this, it’s well remote to Sydney, it’s the perfect location to test that it works.” Moree Mayor Susannah Pearse said residents were “fed up” with the high crime rate. “There are people in this community who will tell you that they have been suggesting that drones would help here on the ground for years,” she said. “When they see a drone go up in the sky they get a bit excited, and they know that is a sign that police are working to look after our community.”
Operation Soteria was launched in March last year with the stated aim of targeting up to 100 young “ringleaders” committing violent crimes in the state’s north and west.
Early figures indicate it may be having an impact. The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) measures youth crime by calculating the number of 10-17 year olds police have taken legal action against per 10,000 in any given area. The New England-North West region had the fourth highest rate of offending in the state in 2024/25 with 547.3, down from 713.7 the previous year.
