I am surprised at the garbage they list in the Police Report document under the heading of “The nature of drone misuse”
They list (with no evidence or links to factual examples)
“… examples of incidents encountered included hobbyist drone flight causing injury, tourists flying around key landmarks, hobbyists flying over railways and trains (e.g. to ‘take a photo’ and causing service disruption), and ‘a lot’ of incidents of ‘high altitude flying’.”
So exactly what is wrong with anyone flying around a landmark, or over a railway?
They even go on to quote
drones flown over schools (paedophilia),
So absolutely no hysteria in this document then!!
There are quite a few established drone search groups around the country. Try a search for “drone rescue UK” on Google and Facebook and you will find many of them.
I have been on a few searches, both for dogs and for people.
To be effective you really need two screens, one for yourself as the pilot, one for an observer. A thermal camera is very useful, a small dog in long grass is invisible otherwise, an unconscious person beneath a tree is equally invisible.
You need a search coordinator, preferably one on the ground and one sitting in an office or at their home who has online access. The office based person can keep a log of all communications and an overview of where people are. Two-way radio is possibly better than mobile phones for communication, depending on the signal availability. We used an app that simulated a walkie talkie using the phone! - Zello - https://zello.com
You also need a number of people on the ground aid in the search and to perform the rescue if aid is needed.
A good liaison with the emergency services, the local councils and volunteer groups is essential and you need your phone and social media covered by at least one person (with contact numbers for volunteers) 24 /7
Starting from scratch is doable but has a hint of re-inventing the wheel. It may make more sense to join your local group to gain experience and, if you feel you can do better, then set up your own group.
Just my 
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The purpose is more to look in blind spots such as gullies or behind small outcrops and walls with the drone rather than have someone trapse over there to look. As it covers that distance a lot quicker so speeds up the search. It can cover 500m x 500m (vlos) a damn sight quicker than i ever could . Thats 250000 square meters a in the space of minutes rather than hours.
No regardless you are still required to fly within your certification, so with a GVC if you don’t have a BVLOS exemption then you still have to fly with in VLOS the police may turn a blind eye to it but it would still be illegal.
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I think this one’s a fair point; you don’t want to be flying too near to railways, for several reasons. Should the drone need to be landed in an emergency or crash on railway property near where trains are running, retreival will be highly dangerous and illegal, and reported trespass will stop rail traffic until it is ascertained that the line is clear. Larger drones lying on the track are a a serious danger to trains. Electrified railways have 25kv cables above them to get caught in; I doubt there’d be much left of your drone after striking one of those. Said cables & wires (Overhead Line Equipment, OLE, in railspeak) are likely to emit strong magnetic fields that will interfere with your signal and compromise your control.
Steam locomotives on heritage lines and mainline specials chuck out steam and hot air at prodigious rates when they are working hard, that’s what makes them photogenic, but the turbulence directly above the chimney is going to defeat any positioning system, and you definitely don’t want to be anywhere above the safety valves when they lift.
When I say ‘near railways’, obviously filming from a stand-off of 50m or so height and lateral distance isn’t going to be a problem so long as you’re looking where you are going rather than the fpv screen, and this probably gives you a bettrr overall view of the action anyway, but enthusiasts are enthusiasts and will always want to get in closer for a detailed shot. Of course, you, dear reader, are blessed with enough common sense to realise all of this, but sadly not all drone flyers are quite so blessed…
Personally, I would also avoid flying over or anywhere near schools just in case anyone might even think I could have sinister intentions. ‘A lot’ of incidents of high flying is s bit of a puzzler without an explainer, though; are there really that many incidents of people exceeding the 400’ limit? And do the police generally understand that it doesn’t mean 400’ ASL, it’s 400’ above the surface; 4,806’ ASL is fine on top of Ben Nevis! Most ordinary patrol coppers are unlikely to have more than a general working knowledge of CAA regulations, so I reckon it’s a fair question!
An active flyer who deals with missing dogs I met last year as we were both flying and filming Hull fair is “The Drone Ranger” not sure if he is a member on Grey Arrow Drones . He is however on Facebook. He gets numerous call outs dealing with missing dogs.
I was contacted last year by someone on a local group who’s dog had run off one evening. Poor thing had been out all night and from the many posts on FB it was clear it was in an area not too far from me. Managed to find the dog in a field and film it ( they nearly caught it but it slipped the lead) Finally they managed to catch it, about an hour after I’d exhausted my drone batteries. 
I got a response from the CAA regarding my question that i posed to them there response was:
All UAS operators, including search and rescue operators, must always follow the limitations detailed in their operational authorisation issued to them by the UK CAA.
For VLOS operations, the advantage of height can give a useful perspective to see over a wider area, through trees and past obstructions. This is often sufficient for localised search and rescue operations.
Some operators may have an operational authorisation that allows them to operate using BVLOS, either with or without visual mitigation (the use of competent UAS observers). These are more useful when larger areas of ground need to be covered. True BVLOS is useful for searching over areas of water and remote, difficulty to access areas.
BVLOS and BVLOS with visual mitigation can be achieved on the successful submission of an operating safety case. Details can be found within CAP 722A:
CAP 722A: Unmanned Aircraft System Operations in UK Airspace – Operating Safety Cases | Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
With regards to your second question, the police do not have the powers to ask a remote pilot to conduct any flight on their behalf, regardless of the situation.
I hope this answers your questions.
Just thought i would share this, i shall be sending them an email thanking them for answering my question, best wishes to everyone
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Hi there,
Where I live, Suffolk Search & Rescue provide a range of specialist skills to the emergency services, including drone operators.
It is a voluntary group, part of the UK’s Lowland Rescue service. My son is a member because of his skills driving a 4x4 truck across rough terrain but part of his training includes being a drone observer.
If it helps, here is a link to Lowland Rescue’s member teams:
Member Teams (lowlandrescue.org)
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