Transcript: Mayor Adams Makes Public Safety-Related Announcement

November 13, 2024

Deputy Mayor Chauncey Parker, Public Safety: Good afternoon everyone, I'm Chauncey Parker the deputy mayor for Public Safety, and we are here today to learn about an exciting new initiative by the mayor to achieve his North Star, which is to keep New York City Safe with the lightest touch. Public safety is clearly about reducing crime, but the mayor's vision of public safety goes even beyond that. It's also using the greatest technology, the greatest partnerships to help find a missing child, a subway surfing child on top of a train, a brush fire in a park. It's using everything we can to keep people safe with the lightest touch, and to learn more about this exciting new initiative, it's my honor to introduce the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. We're going to pause for a moment for our favorite Commissioner Sue Donoghue, who's walking in. You can't say parks without Sue. Come on Sue, come and join us, how are you? When the deputy commissioner of Operations first started exploring how do we expand and use drones more in our city, but not only the antiquated way of having the deployment of the drones at one location, he showed me this concept and idea. He flew around the country to see how it is being implemented and how do you do it in the largest police department in the country, if not on the globe.

As Deputy Mayor Parker has stated, my North Star is public safety, it's a prerequisite to prosperity, and we are not going to leave any stone unturned to accomplish that task. What we have accomplished in this administration, in this Police Department, is that we have taken public safety from the one-dimensional underground approach and we found a cost-saving way of using the skies as a method to keep New Yorkers safe. And it is pennies on the dollars in comparison to what it takes to use a helicopter, which is the primary mode of using our skies. We're doing it differently.

And this was part of our overall mission when we came into office, and Interim Commissioner Tom Donlon has continued that mission, as we see, for 10 straight months of decreasing crime. But I say over and over again that time and time, I'm a big believer in technology. I don't know if many of you noticed that the incoming president is using Digidog, one of the technologies that we use here. He's using it in Florida now to protect his grounds. It just shows that we have been leading from the front.

And before we take this next step, we want to give a presentation. And the police play a vital role in the safety that we're looking to ensure every New Yorker experiences. And when they're sent to a scene, just take your imagination for a moment. If there was a child that was on a ledge in an apartment building somewhere, and the police officers are responding, it takes a period of time for them to know what exact ledge they're on, what apartment they're located, when the call comes over. What if a drone could get there within seconds? Identify exactly what ledge that child is on, identify what apartment is associated with that ledge, and they're able to get there, and with a precision purpose, focus on, and not have to guess when they get to the location.

Well, you don't have to imagine that. That is exactly what happened on October 12th. A child is safe today because of a new program called Drone as First Responder. So today we are announcing that New York City is flying into the future to keep New Yorkers safe. There's been a lot of buzz, so let me be clear: drones are proven technology. And as I explained, the benefits are not theoretical. They are clearly part of our law enforcement apparatus now.

Last year in April, we saw it in action when we deployed drones to keep New Yorkers safe after a parking garage collapsed in lower Manhattan. Both NYPD and FDNY were able to execute their search operation without putting and placing members of our first responders in danger by having to send in humans first. We were able to send the drones in. And they have played an important role in our efforts to keep New Yorkers safe during protests. Drones have been able to allow us to see the movement and to police from the sky, enhancing our efforts to patrol beaches for sharks and being able to identify when sharks are near the beachfront.

These are only two of the 76 search and rescue missions our drone pilots have flown, but their true potential has just taken off, and we're really excited about the announcement we're making today. We're paving the way for drones to keep New Yorkers and our first responders safe with our Drone as First Responder, or DFR, program. This program will leverage the latest drone technology to enhance the NYPD's emergency response capabilities and keep our city safe.

The DFR program will deploy drones to assist with public safety calls, including searches for missing people, alerts from shot spotters, gunshot detection systems, robberies and grand larcenies, and other crimes in progress. These drones will help the NYPD respond and serve New Yorkers more efficiently, and help protect our streets and keep everyone safe. The DFR program is now operational in five commands in three boroughs, including the 6th, 7th, 71st, and 75th precincts in Brooklyn, the 48th precinct in the Bronx, and now in the Central Park precinct here in Manhattan. We want to thank the Central Park Conservancy and their entire board for understanding that this piece of real estate is more than just a park in the center of Manhattan. It is really the indicator and the inviting energy and spirit of why New Yorkers and those who visit New York enjoy this city so much.

The DFR program works by deploying drones remotely to the exact longitude and latitude of where an emergency comes from, reducing response times in some instances to less than a minute. These drones are remotely controlled by trained NYPD personnel who see a live feed, enabling them to make initial scene assessments, which is so important, taking the guesswork out of responding officers. They're making that assessment and quickly broadcast over police radios detailed descriptions of suspects or what is taking place on the ground and provide additional information to responding officers.

These drones will mean more efficient policing and will help increase our ability to make arrests before suspects flee or to bring a condition under control. Most importantly, they will help increase the safety of the responding officers. It alleviates, if not eradicates, those responding officers walking into a surprise situation. And I want to be clear, this is technology we're going to use and not abuse. That is why in May of last year we convened a drone forum in Flushing Meadows where I asked every city agency to dream big about the way drones can be used with their mission of serving New Yorkers, everything from inspecting buildings to inspecting bridges, to look at damage after the earthquake that took place. It immediately allowed our drones to do first visual inspections.

So I want to thank the NYPD, Interim Commissioner Tom Donlon, and our entire team. Job well done and really hats off to [Deputy Commissioner of Operations] Kaz Daughtry for really moving forward and making sure we can get this right. Sue, thank you for letting us review your park. Okay, thank you very much.

Deputy Mayor Parker: Thank you Mayor Adams, our next speaker is the Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon.

Interim Commissioner Tom Donlon, Police Department: Thank you, Chauncey, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good afternoon, everyone. For 179 years, to the mayor's point, the NYPD has embraced cutting-edge technology and those innovations have played a central role in moving this department forward. Today, our Drone as First Responder program is the next step in that tradition. Of course, this program serves the same purpose of every other advancement we made over the years, keeping the people we serve safe.

Drones have been around for a while, and they've been an important part of the NYPD's public safety program for the last six years. And now, this technology joins us on the front lines on our fight against crime and violence. Expanding and enhancing our response to 911 calls for service, these drones provide critical, timely intelligence response, and they work to support our officers on the ground in a number of ways.

Since the drone as first responder program was launched in late June, drones have responded to more than 2,300 calls for service, an amazing feat. From shootings to burglaries, and progress to missing persons and barricaded individuals. This technology has proven its public safety benefit over and over again. Our remote pilots are FAA qualified, and every flight adheres to all FAA rules and regulations.

We'll get into more details in a moment, but at the outset, I want to be very clear. We know all technologies, including these drones, are just tools, and they're only as effective as the people using them. This is a human behind every technology we deploy. That was true when we first flew our drones in 2018, and it's true today. We're always looking for ways to improve, advance, and keep this the safest, largest city in America. We always do that in close collaboration with all the people we serve.

This is the future of law enforcement, and today, that future is happening right now, right here in New York City. Under the great leadership of Mayor Adams, who began his career in public service over 40 years ago, he's the only person in history to serve as both a New York City police officer to go on to be elected mayor of New York. It's the mayor's proactive vision and strong emphasis on public safety which brings us here today for this historic announcement.

The city will move forward and benefit from this program, and we salute the men and women who make it happen, in particular, the leadership of Mayor Adams. Now, for some additional details about the Drone as First Responder program, I'll turn it over to the Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry, who has moved this program forward and has done an outstanding job within the last few months, and that is why we are here today to show you exactly how this program operates. Thank you.

Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, Operations, Police Department: Thank you, commissioner. Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here today. It wasn't too long ago when myself and the Chief of Patrol John Chell, traveled to Chula Vista, California to observe their drone program, and we had a chance to evaluate their program. When we left Chula Vista, we made a commitment and a vow. We promised to adopt the program and expand it for a city that never sleeps, New York City. We are proud to say that we made that dream and that commitment come true.

Technology, especially on the rise of drones, have become a game changer, a force multiplier in this public safety arena, allowing us to secure our streets and communities like never before. And there's no better stage than New York City, with over 8 million residents, waterways, a transit system. It's the Olympics of policing. And to stay ahead of that dynamic environment, we have to embrace this technology.

Drone as First Responder, the concept came from, like I said before, when we traveled to Chula Vista. And when we came back to New York City, we implemented this program. And this program will help reduce the response times, like the commissioner and the mayor said, as well as enhance officer safety and the ability for officers to know what's going on before they get there. Recently, the mayor just mentioned a little while ago that there was a female, a four-year-old girl in the Bronx, that she was hanging out the window. Hanging out the window. The 48th precinct launched their DFR program. They launched their Skydio X10 drones to that building.

And when they seen that little baby hanging out the window, they went over that radio and told those police officers that you need to hurry up and get there. And within less than about three minutes, they were able to knock on the door and tell their parents that their child was in the next room hanging out the window. That is the type of calls, and that's how we're helping move the city forward. That's how we're helping keep New Yorkers safe by this program. This technology, we are going to use, we're going to continue to use it, and we're going to implement it in our crime-fighting strategies to make New York City the safest big city in America. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Parker: Thank you, Commissioner Daughtry. And our final speaker is Betsy Smith, who's the CEO, president of the Central Park Conservancy, and great partner, great leader.

Betsy Smith, President & CEO, Central Park Conservancy: Mr. Mayor, how are you? Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here. You know, keeping Central Park clean and beautiful is a big job, but it's even bigger to keep it safe. And as the mayor correctly said, Central Park is so important to the reputation of the city. People come here from all over the world, over 40 million people a year come to Central Park, and every single one of them has the expectation to be safe and have a wonderful time in this beautiful location.

And I just want to thank the mayor and the entire staff of PD for this imaginative and very proactive way of policing in Central Park. I think it's a terrific addition to the precinct. The precinct is our closest partner in managing the safety of all of our visitors. So thank you so much to all of the Police Department and to the mayor for your support for this important program. We are just so excited about it and support it in any way we can.

Commissioner Sue Donoghue, Department of Parks & Recreation: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Betsy, Deputy Mayor Parker, and Commissioner Donlon. This is such an important moment for our parks. Betsy talked about Central Park. We've got 30,000 acres of parkland in New York City. It's an extraordinary expanse of open space, and we are laser focused in this administration on keeping it safe and accessible for all New Yorkers.

The mayor talked about the drone program. We saw it on our beaches this summer. Not only looking for sharks, they helped us with lost children. They helped us to keep people safe, helped us with rescues, water rescues. We want to continue to evolve the technology and possibility so that people can continue to enjoy our incredible parkland across the city. So we at the Parks Department are so pleased with this partnership, this ongoing partnership and collaboration.

We work hand in hand with PD, with FDNY. We saw the drone technology at work in our parks over the weekend with fires. We know we need to continue to evolve. We are so appreciative of this administration and this mayor for prioritizing public safety, and in particular, the focus on our parks. They are so important, we know, for the livability of New York City. So thank you all, we're excited about this new technology.

Deputy Mayor Parker: Thank you, Commissioner Donoghue. And now, I'll turn to Commissioner Daughtry again for a demonstration of this exciting new 21st century public safety tool.

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: All right, let me know when you guys are ready. All right, so we're looking at one of our Skydio drones. These are one of our handheld drones that the department uses for the drone as first responders. We have multiple teams throughout the city, multiple deputy commissioner of operation drone teams, officers have deployed throughout the city randomly. Two in Brooklyn, two in Staten Island, they're all over.

So when they respond to a job like this, for example, the fire that happened in Prospect Park. These officers got the call, they immediately responded there. They launched the drone, where we were able to send that live feed, not only to the fire commissioner, but to the mayor, the park commissioner, Commissioner Donlon, and the leadership team that you see here. So they were able to get a bird's eye view and an aerial view of exactly what was going on inside of the park and how big this fire was. And obviously, there was a multi-agency response.

Now, let's just show, if you could look at the screen, you're seeing, look at that 5K quality, look at that picture. Can you imagine if you're a parent, a parent, and you're walking in Central Park, and you get separated from your child, and you call 911? The Drone as First Responder can also assist in that search. We have not only officers on the ground looking for the child, but we have officers that are looking, using this technology from an aerial view, looking for a missing child.

Now, what you're seeing here is the drone in a box, our X10 drops. These boxes, which you're going to see, are going to be on top of the commands. We have one in the Bronx, we have one in the 71 precinct. This is the DFR, this is what Drone as First Responder looks like, launching drones autonomously on top of the precincts. For example, the 911 call comes in for, let's say, person robbed, assault in progress. The calls, the longitude and latitude gets routed to our DFR system. The officer, the pilot, can then click on the actual call, and it can respond autonomously to that call.

When it gets on station, they are providing an aerial and tactical view, and giving the boots on the ground officers a play by play of what's going on. I recently watched a video from when there was a stabbing somewhere in Brooklyn, I think it was on Nostrand Avenue, where the Drone as First Responder got there first. They saw a person laying on the ground, they saw the suspect running away from the scene. The suspect ran ten blocks. He heard the sirens coming, he heard the ambulance coming, he ran ten blocks, and he decided to hide in a store.

The drone, the Skydio drone was so high up in the air, about 350 feet altitude, that this person didn't even know that he was being watched by the drone after he committed this type of assault. He walked into a bodega, took off his shirt. We watched him, the drones watched him take off his clothes and put it into his bag as he walked into the bodega. And when he walked back outside, he was met by uniformed police officers where he was placed under arrest.

Another example that I like to use also is, there was recently a home invasion in Queens, where three individuals decided to go take a family hostage while the drone was launched because our air support was down. The drone watched, the cameras watched this whole thing take place where they saw inside of the house that the family was being held against their will. They had their hands in the air. Police officers arrived on the scene and tried to start a dialogue with the suspects in there. They decided to jump out the back window.

Little did they know, the thermal imaging software on this camera got all three of them hopping out the window. They were able to apprehend two suspects quickly. One decided to run three blocks away to hide behind the shed where the drone saw him hiding behind the shed with the thermal imaging camera and was safely able to take that individual into custody. This type of technology is helping us catch bad guys. We're going to embrace this technology, like I said before, to keep New York City the safest big city in America.

Yeah, can we have it land back into the dock? Yep, now watch. Let's say that the drone has finished its mission. Its mission is going to return back to home base. As you can see, the docks are opening up. It's going to land back into this cradle point. It's going to close, and it's going to charge, and it's going to get ready for the next mission. Want to land it?

So once the lasers connect with the drone, with the actual drone, it will safely land back into its drone station. And this is what's happening throughout those five precincts that we said earlier today, the 67, the 75, the 71, the 48 precinct, and now Central Park precinct has officially come online. Look at that touch down. Good job, guys.

Mayor Adams: I was saying they better get it right. Hold on, let it get that photo of it going inside.

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Practice makes perfect.

Mayor Adams: Good job. Thank you. Thank you, guys, from TARU. But clearly, automated, and the more and more we use this technology, the more and more it's going to continue to evolve. And you're going to see this technology expanding throughout the entire city. Starting off with these few pilot precincts, but the goal is, again, public safety. This must be the safest city in America. We're the safest big city, but we want to be the safest city in America. And this is one of the tools we want to use. Why don't we open it up to a few questions?

Question: I'm having trouble keeping track of different commands that you mentioned. You said, five commands in three precincts. And you mentioned the deputy of operations drone units in various units around different commands, different precincts.

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: So we have a mobile deputy commission of operations drone teams. They're assigned to TARU. They're assigned to the DFR program. We have five commands that we have identified that we're using drones in. The 75th precinct, the 67th precinct, the 71th precinct, the 48th precinct, and Central Park precinct.

Question: How is that different from the deputy of operations drones?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: It's the same thing. Yes, it is.

Question: And how many officers do you have?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: That's part of the DFR team? I'm confused, officers for what?

Question: [Inaudible]

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Oh, okay, the drone team. So there's about 60 officers, I'd say. Yeah.

Question: [Inaudible]

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: We have 109 drones on our fleet.

Question: [Inaudible]

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Okay, we have to go to another question. Thanks.

Question: [Inaudible]

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Yes, you can talk to me afterwards.

Question: Are the drones going to be used to keep a bird's eye view of Central Park even when an investigation isn't ongoing?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Yes. So the drones are going to be responding to 911 calls that come over from Central Park precinct. And when they're not responding to 911 calls, I want the drone team to be on patrol like a regular police car that you see driving up and down Central Park. I want them to do the same thing, looking for any type of anomalies, looking for any fights. I want them to be on patrol to add an extra layer of eyes up there to keep this park safe.

Question: And is that in the other precincts as well?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Correct.

Question: So, who's flying that thing? I didn't see anyone. Who's flying it?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Over here. Yeah. Yep. So that's a good question. So when we leave, they're going to be piloting this drone from the joint operations center at One Police Plaza. We have our DFR room, and that's where the drone operators, they pilot the drones for the precincts that I mentioned, the five commands that have DFR. We're doing it here to show and tell for you, and when we leave, it's going to go back to the remote operations, and they're going to take responsibility for that back at the joint operations center.

Question: And so my actual question was about the patrol. There's drones as first responders, but are you going to be using them before there is something to respond to? And you said, yes, so I just want to know, I saw the DFR program mentioned in the press earlier this summer. Have you already been using them as patrols, and what is the system that helps? Is it just the operators' naked eyes? Is there some kind of AI used?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: These are police officers. They're trained, certified police officers with the FAA flight 107 license. They're cops. They're doing their assignment, but they're looking at a screen from the drone screen for the live feed and looking for crime, as you can see, looking for any anomalies up there in the sky. There's no AI. There's no AI in these drones. I want to say that again. We're not using any artificial intelligence in the drones.

Question: Why have you got specific precincts where they're using these drones?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: A couple of months ago in August, we were up over 40 percent in crime in Central Park. We put a lot of resources inside of Central Park, drones, bike teams, additional officers, and now I'm happy to report that we are down 35 percent in crime. And we're going to use this technology also to keep crime down inside of Central Park. Faster response times for any type of assault, lost kid, you name it. These drones are going to get there first. 800 miles of acres here? 800 acres this park is? It's over 70 entrances to this park? This technology is going to help these officers cover all this park more efficiently.

Question: Is it safe to say that these five precincts were chosen or a part of the decision was because there were higher crime rates in those precincts?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: No. We chose the commands by grids with the FAA where we could actually fly at. We have identified over 40 other commands that we're looking at as well.

Question: Have the drones had any interaction with birds in Central Park?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: I knew that question was going to come. As of right now, no. But the birds are extremely fascinated by the drones. They think they're their big brother and sisters. But as of right now, no. They have not come close to the actual drones. And our pilots are very mindful of the wildlife in the area up in the sky. When we see a flock of birds, we want to make sure we fly the opposite way and not toward that as well.

Question: Are there going to be any proactive flights as opposed to just responsive flights?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Yes. When an officer is not picking up a radio run, which is a call for service, a 911 call, those officers do directive patrols in certain areas of the park. And I expect the drone team, the DFR team, to do those same type of directives. I expect them, if there's no calls, to launch the drones, to go fly over where the runners are at, to go fly over where large people are at, where there will be a demonstration inside of the park, a large gathering.

I want the drones to give us an aerial view of exactly what's going on and just looking for anything out of the ordinary. And once those drone team spots that, they will notify the boots and the ground officers what they see. Remember, these are police officers, trained police officers that are pilots flying these drones, so they know exactly what to look for.

Question: How long does the battery on these last?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: So the battery lasts us about 40 minutes, depending on the type of weather, whether it be wind gusts or how fast they're flying to get to an actual call. With that being said, the drone will notify the pilot when it has to return to base when their battery is getting critical. And that's the cool feature about that. And we can launch another drone to take that drone's place while this drone comes back to charge.

Question: Just to follow up on that, can the drones cover the whole grid that they're expected to with the battery?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Yes.

Question: And if there is inclement weather, can they function in bad weather?

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Absolutely. We used it yesterday. We had wind gusts over 30 miles an hour where the drones were at in the Bronx for one of the small brush fires. And the drones, they performed admirably. We expect them to do the same thing here and cover all 800 acres of this park.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.