New York City is the most populated city in the United States of America.  The 2018 census reported that approximately 8,398,748 people call NYC their home.  It’s no surprise that as the most populated city, NYC also has the largest police department in the country with around 36,000 officers.  On New Year’s Eve nearly 2 million people travel into the 1 sq mile of Times Square to be part of a NYC tradition spanning well over 100 years.  Every year the NYPD increases their security measures for NYE, and this year they got a chance to finally use the department’s drones as part of these measures.

As the largest police department in the country the NYPD has sent a precedent of how police can and should be using drones to the benefit of officers and civilians.  At a press release in 2018 NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill stated, “As the largest municipal police department in the United States, the NYPD must always be willing to leverage the benefits of new and always-improving technology.”  It was at this press release that the department announced they would begin using a fleet of 14 drones. Chief of Department Terence Monahan went on to say, “So, let me be clear, NYPD drones will not be used for warrantless surveillances.  NYPD drones will be used to save lives and enhance our response in emergency situations.” 

The fleet of drones used by the NYPD are comprised of different sized UAVs from drone giant DJI such as the Matrice, Mavic and Inspire drones.  The 11 Mavic Pros are small drones that can be deployed quickly for tactical missions.  The 2 Matrice drones are larger weather resistant drones for use in search and rescue missions with 3D mapping, and a 30X zoom camera that also has thermal imaging capabilities.  And finally the 1 Inspire drone the NYPD has is used for testing and training purposes.  Though the question of civilian civil liberties is always raised when the idea of drones and the police come together, Chief Monahan wisely said, “It would be negligent of us not to use this technology.”

The NYPD specially trains officers to operate these drones through it’s Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU), and though they did not specify how many and which drones would be use on New Year’s Eve, it is safe to assume that it was probably the 2 Matrice drones up in the air for surveillance with several Mavics on hand if a situation were to arise.  The NYPD had intended to use the drones in last year’s NYE celebration, but because of bad weather the drones were grounded.  Since then Chief Monahan pointed out that the drones had been deployed “on three or four different occasions here in New York City on major events,” such as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and The Women’s March.  However this was the first time the NYPD was able to use the drones on NYE, the largest event the city sees all year.

On December 27, 2019 counter terrorism chief Martine Materasso held a press conference with information about the NYPD’s security plans for NYE 2020.  These plans included thousands of uniformed and plain clothes officers, bomb sniffing dogs, metal detectors, sand filled blocker vehicles, blockades for roads and subways, 1,200 video cameras, and of course the drones.  John Miler, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counter terrorism, explained that the combination of all of these tactics provides the police “multiple chances to catch something coming through”, though there were no indications of planned incidents.  Miller went on to say, “Times Square is probably going to be the safest place on the planet Earth on New Year’s Eve because nobody else puts that kind of effort into an event like this.”

Chances are for the millions of people crowded into Times Square this past NYE, while they surely saw police officers everywhere they looked, they were most likely unaware of the presence of drones.  And that is a sign of a job well done by the NYPD, providing safety and security without making civilians feel uncomfortable.  The 2020 NYC NYE celebrations featuring performers like Post Malone, LL Cool J, Alanis Morissette, The Village People, and more went off without a hitch.  Though spectators had to stand for hours on end, with no bathrooms in sight, in one of 65 sectioned off pens, it was a night to remember.  And as the NYPD’s new police commissioner Dermot Shea said of the crazy NYE Times Square Tradition, “It’s everything New York in that moment.”