NYPD Will Use Drones To Monitor Labor Day Parties

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has announced that they plan to use drones to monitor Labor Day parties over the weekend.

During a press conference on Thursday, Assistant NYPD Commissioner Kaz Daughtry declared that unmanned drones would be dispatched in response to complaints received about large gatherings such as barbecues or other private events.

“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,” Daughtry said.

This decision came amid a security briefing about an annual Caribbean festival held in Brooklyn, New York, called J’ouvert — which typically attracts thousands of attendees.

Daughtry noted at the press conference that the drones will be used for both “non-priority and priority calls” outside of the parade route.

Critics slammed the NYPD for this decision, declaring that the use of police drones in this way is illegal.

“It’s a troubling announcement,” Daniel Schwarz, a privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union, wrote in a statement to the Associated Press.

“Deploying drones in this way is a sci-fi inspired scenario,” he added.

Schwarz went on to assert that the NYPD’s plan “flies in the face” of the POST Act — a law passed in New York City in 2020 that requires the NYPD to be transparent about surveillance methods.

Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) executive director Albert Fox Cahn also expressed concern about the NYPD’s announcement.

“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,” Cahn wrote in a statement to the Associated Press.

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

Data from the New York City government shows that the NYPD’s use of drones skyrocketed this year, rising to 124 occasions thus far in 2023 compared to only four times in all of 2022.

During a Friday press conference alongside NYPD Commissioner Eddie Caban, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) dismissed concerns about the use of drones — promising that no one would be “monitored,” despite his previous celebration of the “endless” potential of drones.

“We have to push back on the sci-fi aspects of drones — nobody’s going to be monitored,” Adams said.

“So what we’re doing over this weekend, there are a number of calls of loud music, disruptive behavior,” he added. “Instead of the police having to respond and look at those, they’re going to utilize drones from a safe distance up, not down flying in someone’s backyard to see what they have on a grill.”

Adams went on to note that the drones will be used to determine whether the NYPD needs to send crisis management teams immediately to address a problem, pointing out that drones can arrive at the scene much faster than police officers attempting to navigate crowded city streets.

Caban agreed with the mayor, arguing that drones have been “a wonderful thing” for the NYPD.

“Everybody, like the mayor said, is worried about sci-fi,” the NYPD commissioner added.

The NYPD’s drones were recently used during several major incidents, including the unpermitted gamer giveaway held in Union Square by streamer Kai Cenat that devolved into violence and vandalism.