Q&A
Use of drones for emergency communications questioned
7:00:33
·
114 sec
Council Member De La Rosa raises concerns about the city's use of drones for emergency communications, particularly in flood-prone areas. Mastro expresses unfamiliarity with the specific issue but commits to studying it if appointed.
- De La Rosa describes a recent incident where drones with loudspeakers were used to warn residents about potential flooding
- Issues with language and cultural competency in drone messaging are highlighted
- Mastro acknowledges he is not familiar with the specific use of drones but commits to reviewing such issues if appointed
Carmen De La Rosa
7:00:33
Well, thank you for describing that.
7:00:36
We're gonna move on.
7:00:37
I'm gonna talk to you about the use of technology.
7:00:40
Recently, it seems mayor Adams has relied on technology like drones and high in high stakes situations, including send the drones equipped with loudspeakers to nearly a dozen flood prone neighborhoods to warn residents of possible flooding earlier this month.
7:00:56
The talking drones that city officials deployed were supposed to warn residents about the night's storms in two languages.
7:01:03
But a video of the drone on Staten Island showed the tech the tech the tech speaking and indecipherable language, and that was apparently intended to be Spanish.
7:01:14
The emergency management commission commissioner acknowledged the error but said he was very proud of the work their team had done preparing for their storm.
7:01:24
Do you believe that the use of drones with unvetted messaging in the in the place of in language culturally competent outreach led by city workers is an appropriate approach in an emergency.
Randy Mastro
7:01:37
I'm not familiar with the issue or the use you're talking about, and whether the factual premises of the question are, in fact, what's happening I'm just not familiar with the issue, but I would study it and the way you have described it.
7:01:54
There would be questions that would need to be reviewed.
7:01:56
But the fact of the matter is that I can't responsibly answer your question unless I know the actual facts and study the legal issues involved and then I will call it as I see it.
7:02:06
And if I think something wrong is going on, I'm going to tell the administration that, but you you can't ask me, as I sit here now, when I don't know the facts, I haven't studied the issue to have a firm position on the issue.
7:02:21
I will responsibly and immediately review issues like this if I'm fortunate enough to have this job.
Carmen De La Rosa
7:02:27
So let's move on to an issue that you do have some knowledge about.