Look! Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman! Nah, none of those things…although “plane” is close. It’s just the NYPD branching out and deploying its newly-purchased fleet of 14 drones to help reel in crime from above. On Tuesday, NYPD brass announced its new program pertaining to the use of drones and training of 29 city cops as special operators of each unmanned aerial device. As one may expect, there is resistance born of privacy-rights advocates, civil liberties lawyers, and elected officials nail-biting over what they deem “mission creep.”
Although I’ve never heard of that reference myself, Donovan Richards (D), chairman of the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety told the media: “What we want to avoid is ‘mission creep,’ where you start with the use of drones for traffic control and before you know it, it’s being used for surveillance.” Not to sound insensitive or blind to anyone violating citizens’ rights to privacy or to pop off as just plain cocky, but drones are employed to watch things (aka surveil) so as to benefit not only cops but would-be victims in the pathway of criminals. It is a crime prevention measure. Further, if that commission of crime happens, drones are advantageous in scoping the area for suspects/clues like a bird, whereas cops on foot or in a police cruiser are hampered by the throngs of human existence traversing the five boroughs (counties) comprising New York City.
What I am painting here is the usefulness of technology which some may deem an evil intrusion—intrusive methods are permitted by law when police obtain a requisite warrant based on sworn probable cause statements submitted to the courts. Others may qualify drone technology as a necessary evil in a society whose era of burgeoning mass mayhem perpetually inflicted upon a tremendous populace has become, sadly, commonplace. NYC’s counterterrorism unit exists for an unambiguous reason. Still others see drones as a wonderful thing and implore public safety and military entities to employ them for the common good. We are indeed a diverse bunch.
Getting right to the point, NYPD’s Chief of Department Terance Monahan offered: “Drone technology will give our cops and their incident commanders an opportunity to see what they’re getting into before they go into harm’s way. For this reason alone, it would be negligent for us not to use this technology.” Heck, if any police department can afford it, get it! Search and rescue, missing persons, crime-scene mapping, traffic crash/fatality reconstruction, terrorism, pursuit monitoring, clandestine patrol, evidence footage, thermal imaging, and investigating bomb threats are among many portable uses to further the public safety mission.
I can recall when my police department didn’t even have a police dog; we pleadingly prayed to the gods for the funds to start a police canine unit to help us fight battles which could be more expediently won via the phenomenal skills uniquely honed by police dogs. Then, drones were more or less a concept but not even remotely near their increasing prevalence and handy, safe, and cost-effective uses we see today. Back in the day, the occasions in which a drone deployment would have been beneficial are numerous. One of the largest factors I see in police using drones is the relative elimination of police personnel having to explore perils bodily: saving money while saving lives as well.
That engenders the enormous costs for law enforcement aviation units, their helicopter programs, and the relative encumbrances when compared to using drones. On occasion, law enforcement suffered downed police helicopters, culminating in fatalities of their pilots; that also makes an easy argument for drone implementation.
For their 14 drones, the cost to the NYPD is reportedly $480,000. Light reading at policehelicopterpilot.com indicated some heavy numbers, even for used copters: these fuel-powered birds can cost a law enforcement agency anywhere from $33,500 (what I call a bubble on a branch, used) to upwards of seven million tax dollars. Either way, try scoring a purchase order for 14 of those babies! Not even gonna bother to explore fuel, maintenance and training costs.
But I will throw in that one damaged rotor blade for a police helicopter caused me to choke on a scone. Per policehelicopterpilot.com, “…an example of how a helicopter is much more expensive than an airplane [and drone]; a single new replacement rotor blade for a Bell 407 cost over $100,000.”
The size differentiation between helicopters and drones is a no-brainer.
Whereas training for piloting a helicopter is understandably complex, time-consuming, and requires hard-earned licensure, drone operation is largely equivalent to jostling joysticks while playing a video game. I say that with respect and to colorize the practicality. Beau Duffy, spokesman with the New York State Police, made comparisons and qualified drones this way: “It’s easier to use a drone than to launch one of our helicopters, and it’s less expensive.” Ding-ding! His agency currently employs 18 drones. Having resided in NYC and spent many weekends in the mountainous geography in Upstate New York, I can see the multiple benefits for state cops using drones in hilly areas comprised of rocky streams and largely non-navigable terrain.
What’s NYPD’s drone plan? The Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) —NYPD’s sworn cops, with guns, who possess IT savvy— will operate/maintain the drone program. Like the traditional pilot/co-pilot teams, one NYPD cop will work the control panel and drive the drone while a secondary police officer is responsible for the drone’s functional integrity.
According to NYC.Gov, the TARU “provides specialized investigative equipment and tactical support to all bureaus within the NYPD, from officers on patrol to the Emergency Services Unit (ESU). The unit’s expertise in audio/visual technology helps: enhance investigations through the recovery of surveillance video footage; record police action at large-scale demonstrations and arrest situations; provide crucial live video to incident commanders during ongoing emergency situations.” Not much different than any of our armed forces reconnoitering phantom-land before launching a mission and operators who carry it out.
But some do not see it that way. Wanna take a wild guess? Even a not-so-wild guess will likely apply.
Politics? Naturally. Not much transpires among the nearly nine million folks who call the Big Apple home without elected officials getting feet in the fray and spittle on the mics. Paring it down: the NYPD brass did approach city governance and other organizations with their drone program plan and, from what I read, the main contention is oversight. Rather, how much/little latitude is granted the NYPD and to what extent, if any, will the largest municipal police agency in the world be accountable for the use of drones. City council wants to bind NYC cops in the form of record-keeping covenants whereas NYPD officials say they will voluntarily offer statistical data. One suggestion I came across has to do with policy and an elected official not satiated enough to trust the police force to operate with integrity, despite the department’s spelled-out policy stipulations/uses.
Chief Monahan exclaimed, “Let me be clear: NYPD drones will not be used for warrantless surveillance.” Bolstering what the chief stated, NYPD spokeswoman Devora Kaye informed the media that the department has every intention of aggregating data for review.
Guess it doesn’t matter one bit: City Councilman Richards claimed he is expediting legislation mandating NYC cops document and chronicle method and reasoning for deploying drones on each and every use. They’re already doing that, as agreed. It’s just that the Big Apple poles want it by legal compulsion. It seems the always wary social justice warriors want a direct line to the police commissioner’s office; like Batman privilege, I guess.
Does this boil down to a case of over-legislating the coppers? Perhaps. Does it appear the liberal-run metropolis just can’t seem to muster enough trust in its police force? Don’t be silly! More de-policing? Yup. Droning on while remaining blind to an enormous life-saving modality? Uh-huh.
For the sluggish brain cells actually pondering a direct line to the commish, don’t bother. Here is his stance on the matter: “As the largest municipal police department in the United States, the NYPD must always be willing to leverage the benefits of new and always-improving technology. Our new UAS [Unmanned Aircraft System] program is part of this evolution—it enables our highly-trained cops to be even more responsive to the people we serve, and to carry out the NYPD’s critical work in ways that are more effective, efficient, and safe for everyone,” declared NYPD Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill.
Per Dan Gettinger, co-leading Bard College’s Center for the Study of Drone, the NYPD is now added to the 900-plus police agencies in America which employ a drone program.
Now that that is out and the drones are going up, I’m ready for another blueberry scone.
