Security: Gendarmes use a drone to monitor certain areas in Sandy Ground

On January 17, the gendarmerie commander submitted a new request to the préfet to use a camera on a drone in the Sandy Ground neighborhood, where “several public order disturbances of various kinds (armed robbery, carjacking and attempted carjacking, ambushes)” had recently been committed by “a group of individuals.”
This device “provides a wide-angle view to enable better coordination [of the gendarmes] with a view to maintaining and restoring public order.” The gendarmerie commander wishes to use a drone equipped with a single camera for three months to monitor only those areas “where disturbances of public order are likely to occur.”
“The capture, recording, and transmission of images by the gendarmerie command using a camera mounted on a drone” was authorized by prefectoral decree on January 18 in the Sandy Ground area for a period of three months “for the purpose of preventing threats to the safety of persons and property.”
The first time the gendarmerie used a camera on a drone to prevent disturbances to public order was in March 2024. In early January 2025, following a violent attack on a couple of tourists by an armed individual, the same authorization was also granted.

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