NYPD Responds to 911 Calls with Drones
by James Mills
The NYPD now has Drone First Responders (“DFRs”) and has begun deploying them in response to 911 calls. On Nov. 13, 2024, the Mayor’s office announced the new program: 10 drones, deployed across three boroughs—Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan—remotely dispatched to fly autonomously to the exact longitude and latitude of select priority public safety calls. The NYPD has outlined potential uses including searches for missing people, alerts from the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, incidents of robberies and grand larcenies, and other crimes in progress, though specific examples of these applications remain unclear.
Instead, the drones’ primary role appears to be proactive evidence-gathering, raising concerns among civil libertarians and privacy advocates. As the drones travel to their locations, they collect video that can be used to identify faces, license plates, and other details. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement can legally surveil and record outdoor activities, even on private property, without a warrant.
In 2023, after mass protests erupted across the city in response to the war in Gaza, the police reported that DFRs had surveilled protests on 13 occasions, resulting in 239 arrests. “We got the whole thing on video,” said Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry. According to Chief of Patrol John Chell, “[m]ost of those arrests were just civil disobedience.”
The NYPD has also indicated interest in using the drones to monitor rowdy house parties and street festivals. Yet there’s no clear evidence that DFRs have prevented or addressed serious or violent crimes. They’re limited to watching and recording—everywhere they go, all the time.
Sources: futurism.com; nyc.gov; nypost.com.
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