NYPD Deploys Drones as First Responders in New Pilot Program NEW YORK – As New York celebrates the Fourth of July, a new NYPD pilot program goes into effect.
In some cases, a drone will be the first on the scene, even before an officer. CBS New York has learned that long after the final fireworks display on Thursday night, some drones will still be flying over the city. The pilot program is called «Drone as First Responder,» – “Drone as First Responder” – or DFR.
Currently, if shots are fired, an alert detailing the location is sent to the responding officer’s phone. Under the DFR program, a drone will also be dispatched to the scene of the incident, arriving before the officer.
“We don’t spy on anyone,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said.
The pilot program is in place at three stations in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx and one in Manhattan.
Daughtry says the program will save lives.
“Our command center observes what the drone sees,” he added.
Concerns About Foreign Drones and Privacy “I have a big vision for drones in our department,” Daughtry said during a House committee hearing in May. He told lawmakers that the NYPD currently has 85 drones and that by 2023, their use will increase by more than 400%.
Lawmakers have expressed concerns about national security risks posed by foreign-made drones.
“We’re looking at phasing them out of our fleet,” Daughtry said.
“None of the information collected through the use of drones is compromised within the New York Police Department?” asked Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.
“That’s 100 percent correct,” Daughtry replied.
Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, believes the department’s use of drones violates public privacy.
“It’s disturbing. It’s intrusive. It’s expensive,” Cahn said. “Drones have the ability to peer into our most intimate moments in places where we were once private. It’s a dramatic expansion of the NYPD’s ability to observe the lives of New Yorkers.”
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