Business News: Fidelity Is Using Drones to Track Criminal Activity in Gated Estates

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 9:10 AM by Thando Mpembe

- Fidelity, South Africa's largest private security firm, is deploying a drone squadron piloted by qualified pilots to monitor estates in Johannesburg

- The two-month trial will be carried out in collaboration with the UDS Group, which owns drones with electro-optical and infrared sensors

- Fidelity's mobile command centre, which dispatches its armed responders, will be monitoring the drones

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Fidelity, a South African private security agency, is now surveying security estates in Johannesburg using drones as part of a pilot programme to locate criminals faster. The trial began in the Fourways area and is expected to expand to other suburbs and shopping malls in August.

With nearly 60,000 employees working at 160 points of contact and depots around the region, South Africa's largest private security company is looking to aerial technology to enhance its residential protection service.

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Fidelity using drones to track criminal activity in SA security estates — Fidelity is starting an initiative to use drones when tracking criminal activity. Image: Bruce Bennett
Source: Getty Images

Drones have historically been used by Fidelity to protect commercial assets such as pipelines and cables, according to a report by Business Insider.

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As per a report by Business Tech, the offering, according to Wahl Bartmann, CEO of the Fidelity Services Group, includes a mobile command centre with a trained drone pilot and a fully fitted state-of-the-art drone.

“We believe drones and the deployment of a mobile drone team will not only act as a highly effective visible deterrent to criminals but also assist to immediately track down and locate criminal elements once an outer perimeter on an estate has been breached, or in any scenario where suspects are at large on a security estate," he said.

In other South African business news, Tiger Brands has set R100 million aside to assist entrepreneurs in the food and beverage sector. The fund is targeted at offering capital to entrepreneurs who are either directly or indirectly linked to the food and beverages sector.