Qld premier backs police drone expansion

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has thrown her support behind a push for the state's police service to use more drones in crime detection.

Police Minister Bill Byrne is in talks with Commissioner Ian Stewart about an expansion of the service's current use of drones.

The unmanned aircraft could be used in chases, prisoner escapes, search and rescue and covert operations, The Courier-Mail reports.

"Where we can utilise new technology, we absolutely should," Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday.

The Premier said police would need to take privacy concerns into consideration, however drones had successfully been used in areas such as checking gas fields.

"It could actually be extra eyes in the sky when it comes to detecting crime," she said.