Use of search beacons made lawful

Police can now lawfully use personal locator beacons on land to assist search and rescue teams` efforts to find them.

Officers from across the country have welcomed the news that Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) can be legally used on land within the UK. The changes could now help save lives on land across the UK, as well as reducing the risk to rescuers and mountain rescue teams.

When activated, the PLB transmits unique identification information, providing positional data and sends out a continuous homing transmission. This will help emergency services to locate casualties and has the potential to remove the need for lengthy, arduous and expensive search activity.

PLBs are expected to be used on land, primarily by those involved in recreational and outdoor activity. They may also be used by lone workers in occupations which may take them into rural areas.

In a joint statement, and speaking on behalf of police forces in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Deputy Chief Constables Andy Cowie and Ian Shannon said: “This legislative change will allow members of the public to use handheld PLB devices on land anywhere in the UK which when activated, will send a distress alert message that will be picked up by satellite and relayed via the UK Mission Control Centre (UKMCC) direct to the authorities.

“The UKMCC, co-located with the Air Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC), currently at RAF Kinloss, will receive, process and verify co-ordinates for activations before informing the relevant police force. The police service has been at the forefront, in planning these changes and colleagues in police forces across the UK are fully aware of the changes in legislation.”

PLBs are already available for use in the aviation and maritime industries as part of the existing licensing and registration regime, regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on behalf of the Department for Transport.