You could deploy a drone-catching drone, load up a shoulder-mounted net cannon or say, dispatch quadcopter-hunting birds of prey. Yes, after trialling the latter approach for around a year Dutch police are now preparing to welcome eagles into the law enforcement fold, with the animals highly trained to take down drones that pose a threat to the public.

About a year ago, the Dutch National Police teamed up with a company called Guard From Above to explore the potential of using trained eagles to watch over sensitive airspace. Earlier this year it revealed a glimpse of some of its early testing, showing a bird snatching up a hovering quadcopter at an indoor training facility before setting it down in the corner.

It was just a pilot project at that stage, but the testing was such a success that the police force has announced it is now prepared to launch the eagles whenever the situation calls for it. Last Friday it carried out a demonstration where a dignitary emerged from a car with his security personnel in tow, only to have his wellbeing placed in jeopardy by an unmanned quadcopter overhead.