NYPD gets green light from FAA to launch drones remotely in 3 boroughs across New York City
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Eric Adams and interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon unveiled the latest evolution in New York City's fleet of drones on Wednesday.
The New York City Police Department has received permission from the FAA to launch drones across three boroughs and five different precincts.
With a first-of-its-kind waiver, the NYPD will be the first department in the nation with permission to launch drones remotely from a centralized point, 1 Police Plaza, toward certain locations, including Central Park.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry is the brainchild behind the effort, and gave Eyewitness News an exclusive glimpse at the newest frontier in policing.
"To be a model for the rest of the country. It's pretty remarkable," Daughtry said.
The drones will be located at the 67th, 71st, and 75th police precincts in Brooklyn, the 48th Police Precinct in the Bronx and the Central Park Precinct in Manhattan.
The 10 newest drones, two per command, will be deployed remotely and fly autonomously to an exact longitude and latitude. They will respond to calls including searches for missing people, alerts from the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, incidents of robberies and grand larcenies, and other crimes in progress as needed.
Pilots at police headquarters will be able to pilot and track drones in real time inside the "flight room," beating officers on the ground.
Officer Craig Vitale is one of the licensed drone pilots. He's spent years on the street.
"I've been on the ground, if we had this available, how much easier and safer it could have been," Vitale said. "But this makes everything much nicer for everyone all around, much safer."
The drones will help supply high-definition audio and video that is accessible in real time on officers and supervisors' smartphones.
"New York City is flying into the future as we keep New Yorkers safe," said Mayor Eric Adams. "While the 'Drone as First Responder' program is what precision policing in the 21st century looks like, drone potential is really just taking off. We are leveraging the latest technology to enhance the NYPD's emergency-response capabilities, remotely sending drones to the exact longitude and latitude of where an emergency call comes and sometimes in as little as a minute. These drones will mean more efficient policing and will help increase the safety of our responding NYPD officers and New Yorkers."
Cops say the versatility of these drones is key, whether over a wooded area like in the park, or an urban neighborhood in Brooklyn or the Bronx, they provide a key leg up to officers on the ground when seconds might count.
If the connection is lost, the drones are designed to return to base on stationhouse rooftops.
With the launch of the DFR program, the NYPD now has 100 drones of various sizes and capabilities, and more than 110 FAA-qualified drone operators.
NYPD drones have been dispatched on more than 4,000 missions in the past year, including approximately 2,300 priority calls for service.
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