NYPD drones are on overdrive

This week, S.T.O.P. released our latest report, Don’t Look Up: NYPD Drones Take Flight, detailing the vast expansion of NYPD’s drone program.

Friend, In recent years, NYPD drones have become a ubiquitous presence across our city. We’ve seen them hover over backyard barbecues, surveil protests, and increasingly replace human help as first responders. These aren’t friendly flying robots; they are a sign of just how far NYPD is willing to go in surveilling New Yorkers in our everyday lives. This week, S.T.O.P. released our latest report, Don’t Look Up: NYPD Drones Take Flight, detailing the vast expansion of NYPD’s drone program. The report shows that NYPD drone-use skyrocketed 3,200% from 2022 to 2024, with NYPD rapidly deploying more unmanned aircraft for routine patrols instead of only in emergencies. Drones not only undermine our privacy and right to free speech, they put our safety at risk, with questionably trained officers operating drones in overcrowded skies. One crash already set a precinct on fire. When I attended October’s “No Kings” protest in Manhattan, drones flew overhead without parachutes to break their fall. One false move could have seriously injured those of us below, and for what?  Protest surveillance doesn’t make us safe; it deters freedom of speech. New Yorkers didn’t consent to sky-high surveillance—and we shouldn’t have to duck and cover. That’s why our report calls on New York State to pass two bills to halt NYPD’s wide-ranging and secretive use of drones, including the Protect Our Privacy “Pop” Act to ban police drone use beyond search and rescue and natural disaster response and NYS Senate Bill S3049 to ban armed drones. New York State must ground this operation to protect our privacy and public safety.   In solidarity, Eleni Manis Research Director Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2023 STOP, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: STOP 40 Rector Street 9th Floor New York, NY 10006 Add us to your address book. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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