Infrared Cameras Can Spot Graffiti-Painting Gangs As They Deface Rail Cars

Authorities for Germany's Deutsche Bahn, an inter-modal transportation company, have deployed a fleet of helicopter UAVs equipped with infrared cameras that will be used near rail yards to catch vandals spray-painting cars with graffiti.

The UAVs will be used in Berlin, Leipzit, Cologne, and Hamburg, according to a spokesman for the company. Those cities are considered "hotspots" for such vandals. The aircraft can fly at an altitude of up to 400 feet, and will be pained in the red livery of the company, according to a report in the U.K. newspaper the Daily Telegraph.

Deutche Bahn spokesman Jens-Oliver Voss said that the company will be very careful not to fly the UAVs near stations where members of the public could be filmed in violation of Germany's privacy laws. The aircraft will be one of several tools at the disposal of the company's security team charged with "identifying graffiti-sprayers so that they can be apprehended by security forces, who can hand them over to police."

Deutche Bahn did not say how many of the aircraft it has acquired, but the company reportedly spends about $10 million to remove graffiti from rail cars each year. The aircraft cost about $77,000 each.

(Representative helicopter UAV pictured in file photo for illustration purposes)

FMI: www.deutschebahn.com/en