The New York Police Department Uses Surveillance Drones Over Street Festivals

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is also deploying surveillance drones this weekend to flag street festivals in the Brooklyn borough. The focus is on crowds coming together for J’ouvert. The festival has its origins in the Caribbean: in New York, the diaspora of Caribbean descent celebrates emancipation from slavery around the carnival parade on West Indian American Day (Monday).

“If a caller tells us there is a large crowd or party in a backyard, we will investigate,” NYPD Deputy Chief Kaz Daughtry said at a news conference.

The drones are used to weigh up whether and how many emergency services will be sent to a certain location. At J’ouvert events there is always gun violence.

Huge criticism

As New York City Mayor Eric Adams advocates using the technology, experts warn of potential abuses and constitutional violations. Civil rights activists also criticized the plans for J’ouvert as racial profiling.

“Using surveillance drones over New Yorkers celebrating J’ouvert with their friends and family is discriminatory and does not make us any safer,” Daniel Schwarz of the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement, according to the New York Times. He called the procedure “dystopian” and called for stricter guidelines for civil servants. These are necessary because in the past the New York Police Department specifically checked and monitored people with black and tan skin.

This isn’t the first time the NYPD has used drones. They were deployed in early August after two Internet stars in Manhattan spiraled out of control. For example, on the beaches of the metropolis, people pay attention to sharks. And during the Pride Parade in June, drones let attendees know it was time to go home.

(dsc/sda/dpa)