Police department will get drones for preventing and solving crimes, the deputy chief of the Crime Prevention Department of the Interior Ministry Rakhimjon Naimov said at a press briefing Friday.
According to him, the first province to get the unmanned technologies will be the Bukhara province Police department Internal Affairs Directorate was the Bukhara province. According to the order given by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his visit to the province in 2024, the provinceal khokimiyat purchased 150 drones.
“Officers of 84 law enforcement agencies in five provinces will shortly be provided with drones. These drones were purchased by the ministry, with further purchases on the table,” he stressed.
He unveiled plans to fully equip all district and city units with unmanned aerial vehicles before 2027.
Rahimjon Naimov elaborated that drones were mainly used to prevent offenses in areas with high crime rates, to identify petty hooliganism, environmental offenses, and drug-related offenses.
“A drone allows surveillance from above, with then police officers addressing identified situations. The use of drones has significantly increased the effectiveness of identifying and preventing offenses,” he said.
The deputy chief underscored that a system for training and improving the skills of senior prevention inspectors in piloting drones had been set up.
“Not all officers can operate drones. Senior neighborhood officers are being trained in stages. At this point, officers of Bukhara and Fergana province departments have been trained. Only after receiving a certificate, will they be able to operate drones,” said Rahimjon Naimov.
It was reported back in 2024 that drones would be introduced into the activities of road safety bodies.
Importing and private use of drones have been prohibited in Uzbekistan since 2015. There have been repeated reports of tourists being detained for having drones with them. A more lenient punishment for this was adopted last year — now, for the first time, those accused of illegal import, storage and use of drones are subject to administrative, rather than criminal, liability.
