Posted on 08/31/2023 5:36:47 PM PDT by Reno89519
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
“... “Deploying drones in this way is a sci-fi inspired scenario.”
...
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has said he wants to see police further embrace the “endless” potential of drones...
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).
...
“Clearly, flying a drone over a backyard barbecue is a step too far for many New Yorkers,” Cahn said.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Shooting them down or jamming radio frequencies is already illegal according to federal law and the fact they’re over your property is not a factor.
RE: 100s? How large is “large”?
Chris Christie, Stacey Abrams and a half dozen people.
Wow, that would cause Staten Island to capsize!
Ha. A clear and present danger.
If you’re Amish and shoot down a drone, is it still illegal? You know, racism.....
You think the cops actually got a BVLOS waiver, or just said “We’re cops, so there”? Cuz I know which one I suspect. ;)
Imagine if someone came up with attack drones designed only to attack other drones. How about a kamikaze drone.
Adams is a drone
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