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The New York City Police department plans to fly drones into large gatherings in an effort to improve security over Labor Day weekend. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said police officers drones will be used to control complaints about a “big crowd, big backyard party.” The move prompted immediate complaints from privacy advocates, who say the city needs to set clear rules around drone surveillance.
NEW YORK — Those attending New York City cookouts or parties this weekend may notice a guest uninvited looms over their festivities: a police surveillance drone.
The New York City Police department plans to pilot drones in response to complaints about large gatherings, including private events, over Labor Day weekend, officials announced Thursday.
“If a caller says there’s a big crowd, a big backyard party, we’ll use our resources to come up and go check on the party,” said Kaz Daughtry, NYPD assistant commissioner. at a press conference.
The plan drew an immediate backlash from privacy and civil liberties advocates, raising questions about whether such use of drones violated existing laws for policing.
“This is a concerning announcement and it goes against the POST Act,” said Daniel Schwarz, privacy and technology strategist for the New York Civil Liberties Union, referring to a 2020 municipal law demanding that the NYPD reveal its surveillance tactics. “Deploying drones in this way is a science fiction-inspired scenario.”
The move was announced during a security briefing focused on J’ouvert, an annual Caribbean festival marking the end of slavery that draws thousands of revelers and a heavy police presence to the streets of Brooklyn. Daughtry said the drones would respond to “priority and non-priority calls” beyond the parade route.
Like many cities, New York is increasingly reliant on drones for law enforcement purposes. Data maintained by the city shows that the police department has used drones for emergency or public safety purposes 124 times this year, up from just four times in all of 2022. They were seen in the skies after a parking garage collapsed earlier this year. this year and when a giveaway event turned into teen mayhem.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has said he wants police to further embrace the “infinite” potential of drones, citing Israel’s use of the technology as a model after visiting the country last week.
But as technology proliferates, privacy advocates say regulations have not kept up, opening the door to intrusive surveillance that would be illegal if carried out by a human police officer.
“One of the biggest concerns with the rush to implement new forms of aerial surveillance is how little protection we have from seeing these cameras pointed at our backyards or even our bedrooms,” said Albert Fox Cahn, CEO of Surveillance Technology Oversight. Project (STOP).
The New York Police Department did not respond to an email seeking more information about its drone policies.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams shared a link to new guidelines that make it easier for private drone operators to fly in the city, but don’t address whether the NYPD has any policies for drone surveillance.
About 1,400 police departments across the country currently use drones in some form, according to a recent report of the American Civil Liberty Union. Under federal regulations they are generally limited to flying within the operator’s line of sight, although many departments have applied for exemptions. The report predicted that drone use was “about to explode” among police departments.
Cahn, the privacy advocate, said city officials should be more transparent with the public about how drones are currently used by police, with clear security barriers that prevent surveillance from going overboard in the future.
“Clearly flying a drone over a backyard barbecue is a step too far for many New Yorkers,” Cahn said.
2023-09-01 04:35:19
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