LI Police Use Dozens Of Drones; NYCLU Raises Privacy Concerns

LONG ISLAND, NY — As flying drones become more ubiquitous, they are found in more aspects of every day life. They are also commonly used by government agencies, including — more and more often — police.

A new report from the New York Civil Liberties Union shows just how many drones government agencies operate. And while the number of drones is known, how and when they are used, as well as policies that control their usage, are still unknown.

According to the NYCLU, there are 530 active drones registered to 85 different governmental agencies in New York state. The New York State Police Department has the most, with 119. The Nassau County Police Department has the most drones registered of any local department, with 33 in active use. The Suffolk County Police Department has four drones, and the NYPD has 19.

“Unregulated use of drones threatens New Yorkers’ privacy and safety, further creating a society in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded, and scrutinized by the authorities,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Without public oversight and legislation to curtail drone use, the threat of constant police surveillance by drones equipped with invasive technologies will become our new normal.”

Patch reached out to local police departments to find out what their policies are on using drones. The Nassau County police did not respond. Suffolk County police said the information would have to be obtained through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.

New York State Police say the drones are used to keep citizens and police officers safe.

"The State Police use unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for law enforcement and public safety missions. The UAS provide increased flexibility and a significant cost savings when compared to our manned aircraft (helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes), offer reduced response times, and can be used in dangerous situations and environments, including natural disasters, keeping troopers out of harm’s way," Beau Duffy, the director of public information for the state police, said in a statement to Patch. "Since our first group of UAS became operational in 2017, they have been used to locate missing persons, to make damage assessments for natural disasters including floods, to search for evidence and document crime scenes, and enhance security at large public events. They are also used to document and reconstruct serious motor vehicle crashes far more efficiently than previous methods, resulting in shorter road closures, reducing the impact on motorists."

State police also have an official policy on what drones can be used for, what information can be collected and how that information can be used.

The NYCLU says that the unregulated use of drones is a privacy concern for residents. As drones grow more advanced, so do their surveillance capabilities. They can fly high enough to be undetected, yet still recognize faces and license plates on the ground.

Drones can also be equipped with thermal imaging, facial recognition software, autonomous flying capabilities and microphones that can record personal conversations.

The company that has supplied many of the Nassau County Police Department's drones, DJI, is a Chinese company that has been blacklisted by the federal Department of Commerce for abetting wide-scale human rights abuses in China. US companies are not allowed to sell any products to the drone company.

The NYCLU is advocating the passage of a bill that is currently in the state legislature. The "Protect Our Privacy Act" would prohibit drone surveillance of protests and other events and activities protected by the First Amendment, and require a search warrant before drones are used in police investigations. It would also prohibit drones from using facial recognition software, weapons, or crowd control devices. The legislation would also set rules for public access, retention, and deletion of drone-collected data.