Q&A
NYPD's use of drones and their capabilities
1:08:48
ยท
87 sec
Council Member Yusef Salaam questions the NYPD about their use of drones, particularly regarding attachments mentioned in an OIG-NYPD report. Deputy Commissioner Michael Gerber responds to these concerns.
- NYPD policy strictly prohibits the use of drones as weapons or equipping them with weapons
- Drones have capabilities for dropping items in lifesaving situations (e.g., dropping a buoy to a distressed swimmer)
- Some drones have a glass-breaking capacity for exigent circumstances, not as a weapon
- Gerber emphasizes that under no circumstances are drones allowed to be used as weapons
Yusef Salaam
1:08:48
I wanna move to questions on drones.
1:08:54
The OIG NYPD report found that some drones have multi purpose droppers and glass breaking attachments.
1:09:03
Does the NYPD plan to use drones to deploy non lethal weapons or crowd control measures?
Michael Gerber
1:09:08
So be very, very clear.
1:09:11
This is as a matter of policy, and this is nonnegotiable.
1:09:15
Drones are not used as weapons.
1:09:17
Drones do not have weapons.
1:09:18
They are not going to have weapons.
1:09:21
We our policy does not allow for that, period.
1:09:25
What is described in the DOI report, there are two different things that are described.
1:09:30
One is the ability of drones to drop things as a lifesaving measure.
1:09:35
For example, if we have drones off on the beaches and someone's in distress, and the idea, as I understand it, is that a drone could drop a buoy or the like, something that would actually save someone's life.
1:09:48
There also is a capacity for a drone.
1:09:52
The breaker capacity is not as a weapon at all, it's in exigent circumstances if there's a need for a drone to go into an otherwise closed off space and to be able to break glass in order to do that.
1:10:07
But I want to be very, very clear, under no circumstances are drones allowed to be used as weapons or any weapons put on drones.
1:10:15
Absolutely not.