NYPD to launch drones
The New York Police Department (NYPD), US, has announced plans to deploy drones across the city.
The New York Police Department (NYPD), US, has announced plans to deploy drones across the city.
The police department revealed that it had acquired 14 drones from DJI that will be operated by the force’s Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU). The majority of the UAVs are DJI Mavic Pro quadcopters, useful for rapid deployment, and it also acquired two larger DJI M210 RTK quadcopters which are equipped with 30x zoom cameras, thermal imaging and 3D mapping capabilities.
According to a statement from the NYPD, these aircraft will be used for search and rescue, crime scene analysis, traffic monitoring and hostage scenarios. It also clarified that the drones would not be deployed for routine patrol, traffic enforcement, illegal surveillance and disarming/disabling a vehicle or suspect.
“As the largest municipal police department in the US, the NYPD must always be willing to leverage the benefits of new and always-improving technology,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill. “Our new UAS programme 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.”