The New York Police Department is rolling out its air force of drones this Labor Day weekend, raising the usual ruckus from civil libertarians. Kaz Daughtry, NYPD Assistant Commissioner, responded to critics, saying, “I understand there may be concerns, but these drones are not going into the backyards to look for the secret sauce that mom, dad, or grandma’s making.”
Daniel Schwarz of the New York Civil Liberties Union said, “Pervasive drone surveillance can be easily misused to exploit and discriminate against New Yorkers, putting all of our privacy at risk.” Ya think? Then, ruining that good thought with his usual twaddle, he droned on about how black and brown communities are disproportionately affected.
“We must push for stricter guardrails — especially given the department’s lengthy history of surveilling and policing black and brown communities.” Duh. It is as if the police are stupid enough to distribute their limited manpower and drone power equally between high-crime areas and low-crime areas. Such is the liberal mind’s default toward stupidity — I mean equity — when it comes to law and order.
One hopes Mr. Schwartz is enjoying his Labor Day weekend far from the maddening crowd in some nice, safe resort area like the Hamptons.
“We have to push back on the sci-fi aspects of drones,” said the New York City mayor of a thousand suits, Eric Adams. “No one is going to be out there monitoring conversations. We want to utilize this technology to complement our crisis management team and our police personnel.”
Daughtry says, “The cameras will only be on when responding to a call. Once the drone comes back, RTB, returning to base, the cameras will be focused directly on where they are returning to, looking at the horizon. We will have agency attorneys with the drone operators to make sure they were constitutionally sound and were not being intrusive of people’s privacy.”
The police claim there is no facial recognition technology in the drones. This may be a weak argument because, presumably, anything taped can later be used to recognize faces. But with police cameras all over the city, this is hardly a new intrusion.
The drones can speak to people, instruct crowds to disperse, and respond to citizens’ complaints. Given the danger in domestic calls, intervening to halt a loud 2 a.m. hi-decibel party or a barrage of late-night fireworks might increase police safety and save time. One hopes they are not misused as they were in socialist Spain, where during the Wuhan Virus shutdowns, people gathering in the open air in parks were told to disperse.
Clearly, drones can be used nefariously. Heck, who’s to say nosy neighbors won’t be flying their drones to snoop, evading NYC flight restrictions? It’s the new version of listening in on the party line or watching neighbors through drawn blinds.
Related: New York Raised the Age of Criminal Liability to 18. You Can Imagine How That Turned Out
While nanny state abuse is possible, it’s hard to fault a police department that is underfunded and understaffed for throwing new technology into the breach. The New York Civil Liberties Union’s fear that black and brown people will be disproportionately affected only serves as a reminder that their brief these days seems to be to ensure that the minimum number of criminals are brought to justice.
The obvious question is, if Mayor Adams really wants to find crime, why does he need a drone to do it? He just needs to get on a subway, walk the streets, or spend a few hours in Penn Station, where even a blind man begging there could probably point them to three or four criminals who work the place daily.
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