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NEW YORK POLICE WILL USE DRONES TO MONITOR BACKYARD PARTIES THIS WEEKEND,
SPURRING PRIVACY CONCERNS

Those attending outdoor parties or barbecues in New York City this weekend may
find an uninvited guest looming over their festivities: a police drone

By
JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press
August 31, 2023, 4:43 PM ET
• 3 min read


FILE - An NYPD or FDNY drone flies over the site of a partially collapsed
parking garage as One World Trade Center is visible in the background in New
York City, April 19, 2023. The New York City police department plans to pilot
the unmanned police surveillance drones in response to complaints about large
gatherings, including private events, over Labor Day weekend, officials
announced Thursday, Aug. 31. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Those attending outdoor parties or barbecues in New York City this
weekend may notice an uninvited guest looming over their festivities: a police
surveillance drone.

The New York City police department plans to pilot the unmanned aircrafts in
response to complaints about large gatherings, including private events, over
Labor Day weekend, officials announced Thursday.



“If a caller states there’s a large crowd, a large party in a backyard, we’re
going to be utilizing our assets to go up and go check on the party,” Kaz
Daughtry, the assistant NYPD Commissioner, said at a press conference.

The plan drew immediate backlash from privacy and civil liberties advocates,
raising questions about whether such drone use violated existing laws for police
surveillance

“It’s a troubling announcement and it flies in the face of the POST Act,” said
Daniel Schwarz, a privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil
Liberties Union, referring to a 2020 city law that requires the NYPD to disclose
its surveillance tactics. “Deploying drones in this way is a sci-fi inspired
scenario.”

The move was announced during a security briefing focused on J’ouvert, an annual
Caribbean festival marking the end of slavery that brings thousands of revelers
and a heavy police presence to the streets of Brooklyn. Daughtry said the drones
would respond to “non-priority and priority calls” beyond the parade route.

Like many cities, New York is increasingly relying on drones for policing
purposes. Data maintained by the city shows the police department has used
drones for public safety or emergency purposes 124 times this year, up from just
four times in all of 2022. They were spotted in the skies after a parking garage
collapse earlier this year and when a giveaway event devolved into teenage
mayhem.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has said he wants to see police
further embrace the “endless” potential of drones, citing Israel’s use of the
technology as a blueprint after visiting the country last week.



But as the technology proliferates, privacy advocates say regulations have not
kept up, opening the door to intrusive surveillance that would be illegal if
conducted by a human police officer.

“One of the biggest concerns with the rush to roll out new forms of aerial
surveillance is how few protections we have against seeing these cameras aimed
at our backyards or even our bedrooms,” said Albert Fox Cahn, the executive
director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP).

The NYPD did not respond to an email seeking further 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 which do not address whether the NYPD has any policies for drone
surveillance.

Around 1,400 police departments across the country are currently using drones in
some form, according to a recent report from the American Civil Liberty Union.
Under federal rules, they are generally limited to flying within the operator’s
line of sight, though many departments have requested exemptions. The report
predicted the use of drones was “poised to explode” among police departments.

Cahn, the privacy advocate, said city officials should be more transparent with
the public about how police are currently using drones, with clear guardrails
that prevent surveillance overreach in the future.

“Clearly, flying a drone over a backyard barbecue is a step too far for many New
Yorkers," Cahn said.

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