INTERPOL officials said the organization has established global drone use guidelines earmarked for first responders investigating device-based criminal incidents.
Officials said drones and other technologies are more frequently being used to execute a range of crimes via surveillance, transporting illicit items or remote monitoring.
The INTERPOL Drone Response and Forensic Guidelines offer police and other first responders procedures for handling cases where drones are part of the criminal investigation, per officials, ranging from tracing the use of the devices to extracting digital evidence.
INTERPOL officials said the guideline crafting effort involved a two-week event in which drone experts from Bulgaria, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States field tested more than 10 different types of drones known to be used by criminals to better understand their characteristics and limitations.
What followed, officials said, was a simulation of the steps first responders would take when encountering a drone and the drones were then dismantled to locate and analyze the hardware and software which could hold critical data for law enforcement investigations.
Among the highlights derived from the event, officials said, is a summary of guidelines for responders to carry in the field; Incident Record Forms for non-technical first responders;
digital forensic examiners flow charts and notes templates; and core competencies for first responders and technical first responders.