7th April 2014 Budapest, Hungary
Gadgets, Drones, Opportunities
It was an idea from the British Embassy, which generated support among the leadership of my organization, namely the Ministry of Interior of Hungary. By a letter of H. E. Ambassador Knott in January, the opportunity was offered to a Hungarian official to visit the Security and Policing 2014 exhibition and fair, organized by the Home Office.
I had the honour to receive this assignment: I have been working in the Hungarian public service for nearly 13 years and having always been working with EU and international relations, I am quite used to travelling to various European cities for professional reasons. Nevertheless, this visit proved to be of something particular (and not only because of the very constructive talks I had with my fellow colleagues at the Home Office and at the FCO on current developments in the EU justice and home affairs area).
The venue was Farnborough Airport, a place that touched upon some old memories in my mind. When I was a teenage boy, I was quite a big fan of military aviation magazines – yes, I have dreamt of becoming a pilot myself. Well, obviously that dream hasn’t come true. But some 25 years later, I made it to the venue of the famous Farnborough Air Tattoo.
At the exhibition, I was really stunned by the diversity of products offered. From guns and rifles to shields and helmets, from smart cameras to IT solutions, one could watch, touch and try gadgets that are mostly, if at all familiar from movie screens to someone who is not a practicing cop. The hottest product seemed to be the drone (or, more officially, unmanned aerial vehicle), the potential of which is just being explored in law enforcement work.
Actually, most criminals should be encouraged to visit such events – they would probably change their minds and start looking for a decent job (maybe they could even start some business by making use of their previous experiences, just as Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Catch Me If You Can. This exhibition has also demonstrated that even security and policing could be a lucrative business scene). If all the police force in the world had all the technology available at their disposal, hardly any crime could remain untraced.
