The 110 command center of the Xiamen municipal public security bureau became the first center to use police unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for air traffic patrol on Aug 10, in order to catch traffic violations such as running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.

A police drone is on patrol in Xiamen. [Photo/WeChat account: xm_police]

There were 28 human operators and 12 police drones participating in the patrol.

It took 12.5 hours to catch 163 traffic violations and warn passengers and drivers 1966 times. The first police drone youth volunteer aviation team also partook in the patrol.

Police drones were also equipped with high-magnification wide-angle zoom lenses and voice amplifiers, so that they could warn passengers and drivers to abide by traffic laws.

In addition, medium UAVs, which took panoramic elevated shots, coordinated with mini-UAVs which stayed closer and took pictures of traffic violations as evidence.

The videos and images of traffic offenses were transferred to the 110 command center in real time, enabling police to impose remote penalties for traffic offenses.