Drones, geolocation, and off-road motorcycles: this is how the Local Police of Novelda protect table grape crops

Geolocation, off-road motorcycles and cars, and a drone to cover nearly 1,000 plots that occupy almost 1,000 hectares in Novelda. This is how the Local Police protect the table grape crops, which have entered their harvesting phase. The city council has reinforced the security of the area with various measures to provide quick service to prevent thefts in the fields.

The Novelda City Council presented this Tuesday the special rural device to monitorthe cultivation areas, which will be active from October to December. Almost 50 agents and the drone unit will reinforce the surveillance service of plots, homes, and paths during these months, where a specific rural patrol provides service all year round.

It was presented at one of Novelda's production farms, and these officers will ensure the care of crops, rural areas, and control of agricultural machinery thefts. Although this surveillance is constant throughout the year, controls have been intensified to protect the main crop of the municipal term.

The Local Police will use motorcycles and off-road vehicles equipped with computer systems that allow them to quickly locate all plots and immediately access geolocation of the 2,000 registered residential homes in the outskirts. The service will also include tablets incorporated into patrol cars to locate any rural point in the municipality through powerful software.

In addition, the Drone Unit collaborates with agents in harvesting areas. The local security force also coordinates withthe Civil Guard and Autonomous Police, who also focus on identifying owners and work crews in vineyards and verifying agricultural product transport vehicles on rural roads, who must prove the origin and destination of the product.

The mayor of Novelda, Fran Martínez, introduced this device and highlighted "the government's interest in improving security quality both in the city and rural areas, providing our farmers with all the attention that fields and agricultural production deserve."

Meanwhile, Councilor for Citizen Security Ximo Mira explained that surveillance reinforcement "has been enhanced in recent years with drones" and ensures that "it not only allows covering a larger geographical area but also directs patrols to incident points when necessary."

The councilor took advantage of this opportunity to make a special appeal to both farmers and residents living in rural areas to provide all possible information that helps expand and update the geolocation map of plots and rural homes since "this system facilitates immediate police response in case of an incident." He also spoke about thefts and scams faced by farmers.