NYPD using drones as first responders in new pilot program

NEW YORK - As New York City celebrates the 4th of July , a new NYPD pilot program will be in full swing.

In some cases, a drone will be the first on the scene, not an officer, and CBS New York has learned that long after the last rocket Thursday night, some drones across the city will stay up. It's part of a new pilot program called "Drone as First Responder," or DFR.

Currently, if shots are fired, an alert detailing the location is sent to the phone of the responding officer. Under the DFR program, a drone will be dispatched to the report of gunfire too, with the drone getting there before the officer.

"We're not spying on anybody," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said.

The pilot program is in place at three stations in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, and one in Manhattan.

Daughtry says the program will save lives.

"Our command center is watching what the drone is seeing," he said.

Concerns over foreign-made drones, and privacy

"I have a big vision for the drones in our department," Daughtry told a House committee during a hearing in May. He told lawmakers the NYPD currently has 85 drones and, in 2023, the NYPD increased drone usage more than 400%.

Lawmakers expressed concern about the national security risks posed by foreign-made drones.

"We're looking to phase them out of our fleet," Daughtry said.

"None of the information collected by drone usage is compromised in the New York City Police Department?" Rep. Anthony D'Esposito asked.

"That is 100% correct," Daughtry replied.

Albert Fox Cahn founded the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. He says the department's use of drones violates the privacy of the public.

"It's creepy. It's invasive. It's expensive," Cahn said. "Drones have opportunity to look at our most intimate moments in places where we used to be private. It's a dramatic expansion of where and when the NYPD can look into New Yorkers lives."