UK's Hunt: Police to send drones as 'first responders'

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said police will be allowed to send drones as first responders to some crimes, as part of a plan to speed up response times and save money. British police have been criticised in recent years for not sending officers to some crimes such as phone and car theft. With budgets tight, Hunt said technology could be used to improve policing.

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said police will be allowed to send drones as first responders to some crimes, as part of a plan to speed up response times and save money. British police have been criticised in recent years for not sending officers to some crimes such as phone and car theft.

With budgets tight, Hunt said technology could be used to improve policing. "We will spend 230 million pounds ($293 million) rolling out time and money saving technology which speeds up police response time by allowing people to report crimes by video call and where appropriate use drones as first responders," he said in his budget speech to parliament on Wednesday. ($1 = 0.7861 pounds)