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Crime

Report: Police Surveillance Drones Could Soon Fly Over NYC

Jan. 25, 2012 1:47pm Buck Sexton

Will unmanned surveillance drones one day buzz the tops of skyscrapers and hover above crowds in the city that never sleeps?

Recent evidence suggest that yes, the New York Police Department could one day soon have aerial drones in its arsenal of crime fighting tools.

The evidence pointing to police deployment of drones is preliminary, but it is there.

According to WCBS-TV, an e-mail has been released through the Freedom of Information Act that’s ”purportedly from a detective in the NYPD counterterrorism division, asking the Federal Aviation Administration about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as a law enforcement tool.”

WCBS-TV also cited an interview with NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in which he mentioned the NYPD’s ability to shoot down an aircraft, if that for some reason became necessary. It is more likely, however, that Commissioner Kelly was referring to the NYPD’s .50 Caliber rifles, which could theoretically bring down a small plane in the event of a terrorism emergency.

Report: Police Surveillance Drones to Fly Over New York City

(photo courtesy LA Times)

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, in response to questions about the NYPD’s possible deployment of drones, that “We’re always looking at technology. Drones aren’t that exotic anymore. Brookstone sells them. We’ve looked at them but haven’t tested or deployed any.”

Browne certainly has a point, as drones are becoming cheaper and more ubiquitous across the board. High-resolution cameras on aerial drone platforms are not coming to a store near you– they are already there.

In fact, civilians have started to use drones for their own purposes, as was recently seen when a Texas man used a drone to catch a meatpacking company dumping blood in a river, and during major riots in Poland last November. As Polish police clashed with protestors, a radio-controlled surveillance drone was able to capture and transmit streaming video of the clashes.

Here is a video of the “Roboktoper” drone in action over the Polish protests:

Civilian police have generally deployed small, unmanned rotary-wing drones. The Department of Homeland Security, however, has begun to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border with the much larger MQ-9 Predator drones that have become synonymous with U.S. military action abroad.

This raises the possibility that law enforcement could one day have drones at their disposal with lethal capability for counter-terrorism purposes.

The mere prospect of police using drones to patrol New York City has some civil libertarians and privacy groups up in arms. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a 16-page report last month that WCBS claims cited:

“the growth of the use of drones and the lack of laws protecting citizens from airborne intrusions. Just the mere possibility that the city could be looking into the use of drone surveillance aircraft prompted one anonymous New Yorker to post official looking NYPD warning signs all over the city.”

Apparently, some of those public service notices read: “Attention, authorized drone strike zone.”

Another one found on Mercer Street said: “Local statutes enforced by drone.”

The signs would seem to be premature at this point, at least in New York City — but will they always be?

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Comments (95)

BOMUSTGO
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:37pm
Drone season his about to open..No limits!!!

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- booger71
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 5:37pm
  Wonder if I can bring one down with a sling shot?
  
  Report this comment
- John Morton
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 6:05pm
  12 Gauge, #6 shot, 3″ Magnum Loads.
  
  PULL !!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Meyvn
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 6:09pm
  Yup
  
  Report this comment
- qzak491
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 11:20pm
  This looks like a good target for a privately owned remote airplane to ram. I smell a new sport coming on, air combat.
  
  Report this comment
- conbones
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 11:47pm
  lol…man you guys beat me to it. i was thinking hobby rockets.
  
  Report this comment
- TheWholeTruth
  Posted on January 26, 2012 at 7:07am
  Just found a new use for that old RadarRange. (or at least it’s internal working part)
  
  Report this comment
- Secret Squirrel
  Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:10am
  .
  Waste of money.
  They will be pulled as being racist when it is discovered
  that most crime targets will be black or Hispanic.
  
  Report this comment
- Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
  Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:22am
  If I could find a way of attacking a drone from above without appearing in the open on the ground to be aiming anything at the drone, I would so take out any that flew over my property. My concern is that the drone is transmitting its video back in real time, so the last thing I need is the police coming to me with aerial video staring down the barrel of my 12 ga. firing 00 buck police loads (appropriately named, that) through a narrow choke up at the drone before the video blacks out.
  
  I’d much rather have an anonymous looking ham radio antenna that is capable of emitting an EMP which is capable of frying the drone’s avionics, causing it to crash hard.
  
  “Officers, you saw my ham radio tower and all of those antennas. I guess your little robot just couldn’t take the Teslas I was putting out. Maybe in the future you’ll want to treat my property as a no-fly zone for your model airplanes.”
  
  Report this comment
tmplarnite
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:35pm
“The city that never sleeps”….These liberal fool idiots are walking in their sleep!

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- BOMUSTGO
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:35pm
  Zombies!
  
  Report this comment
MrKnowItAll
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:20pm
I will never get over the fact that I feel alone in my thinking that…”What type of people have we became? I know our History has many evil things that many, what we call Great Men today have done in the name of our freedom.” The really sad part is we know History. We learn nothing from it. I say to myself,,,,It’s 2012! Why do we call ourselves Civilized when we continue to have people who commit Evil Crimes, Murder and Horrible Atrocity’s against fellow Living, Human Beings. I know we can be a True Civilized Society. I also know the Truth that this will never happen as long as there is a Planet earth. I say to all. I care about all. No Agenda’s Ever.

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WAKEUPUSA2012
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:17pm
Brave New World.

More like

New World Order

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- BOMUSTGO
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:35pm
  Nineteen eightyfour..1984
  
  Report this comment
KidCharlemagne
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:57pm
Sounds like something out of Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’……

Of course, this didn’t come about just yesterday though…..we’ve been warned that this was coming for a long time now:

—————————–
“Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective — a new world order — can emerge: a new era, freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, east and west, north and south, can prosper and live in harmony.”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush

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Baddoggy
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:50pm
1984…On Steroids.

God help us. We are now being denied our 4th Ammendment rights from the air.

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- USAFLgirl
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 6:34pm
  People are just bending over, happily! I do not understand. Where is the NY outrage??? Privacy is gone, freedoms are eroding….America is burning and half the county is asleep.
  
  Report this comment
- USAFLgirl
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 6:35pm
  country
  
  Report this comment
I.Gaspar
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:34pm
It would make me think twice about blocking a midtown intersection. Instead of two points on your license, they’ll just kill you by drone.

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- V-MAN MACE
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:41pm
  We will do something about this police state intrusion. Guaranteed.
  
  Report this comment
cemerius
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:57pm
Wrist Rocket will a steele ball bearing? No more model helicopter!! This is MORE examples of insanity for the NYC!!! How on Earth would they be able to enforce the law with a picture of a grainy concealed purse snatcher? Billion dollar plan paid for by NYC and USA taxpayers AGAIN!! Street cameras in Chicago failed too!!!!

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- hidden_lion
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 5:50pm
  It is when it is armed with hellfire missiles and or mini-guns that the fun will start. It is not all about the camera, it is about the angle of attack.
  
  Report this comment
- USAFLgirl
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 6:37pm
  grainy? seriously? Satellites can zero in from space, I don’t think a drone’s picture will be grainy.
  
  Report this comment
LibsAndCopKillersALoveStory
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:56pm
Lots of talk about the police and Feds misusing drones but not one word about why we need drones: Citizens raping, robbing and killing each other by the bucket-load.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:03pm
  Just like most of us have seen coming for a time and old Soros was preaching about yesterday.
  
  Report this comment
- Jaspers
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:06pm
  Killing, robing is one things that needs to be stopped, but at what cost. Your Freedom to move about, and whats to stop the State or Government invading more of the public areas. To much surveillance in this nation already, over 13 million cameras watching our every move now.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:18pm
  Street crime needs to be dealt with no doubt but this constant surveillance will be abused by government,keep in mind the patriot act and NDAA are two blatantly unconstitutional laws but they’re the law none the less.The government tells us the laws are for our security,I say it’s to watch our every move weather we’re suspected of illegal activity or not.
  
  Report this comment
- booger71
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 5:40pm
  These drones will not stop crime. The police are and will always be just report takers not crime breakers.
  
  Report this comment
- Mil-Dot
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 5:41pm
  If the police were not so quick to arrest and malign citizens that take out the creeps a lot of these problems would solve themselves. But NO, we can’t have citizens “taking out the trash”. That would be too simple. This type of work requires “trained” professionals-My As z it does. This is not about crime fighting. This is about totalitarian surveilance and control. Straight out of Stalin 101.
  
  Report this comment
poverty.sucks
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:54pm
What more efficient way to verify movement of Tea-Party members

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goahead.makemyday
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:50pm
I can see where the use of a drone can be good in some situations. Say a hostage crisis or in the “hood” where no sane police officer would go, how ever unrestricted use is a very bad idea. The only way I’d agree to these things is if there has to be a warrant from a Federal judge not some Cost-A-Penny Judge put in by the Mayor.

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- copatriots
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:55pm
  Would you trust the 9th Circus……er, I mean Circuit?
  
  Report this comment
ThePostman
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:49pm
OBL’s goals have been achieved. In the meantime, it sure will be fun shooting these critters out of the sky in Texas.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:47pm
  They surely don’t look that steady or stout, that much is certain. Add much protection (armor, hard points) to them and they necessarily become manned aircraft and/or large, ominous and visible to all, which defeats the point of putting toys with cameras in the sky in the first place.
  
  The nice thing is that there are no licences required to shoot them, they are always in season, and there’s no bag limit!
  
  Report this comment
- MittensKittens
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:48pm
  I bet a 5.56 round should take care of one of those drones.
  
  Report this comment
- Bill Rowland
  Posted on January 26, 2012 at 4:53pm
  Mittens – 7.62×39 – wait until it hovers to line up its shot then take it out.
  Honest officer I though it was a horse fly.
  
  OMG
  
  Report this comment
TRILO
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:46pm
Welcome to the UNITED POLICE STATES OF AMERICA!

Before long we will all have camera’s mounted on every light pole and on our television sets to watch our every move. Why should we think we have a right to privacy; except in the case of women’s right to choose an abortion? Most police and sheeple think our privacy ends the minute we step outside of our door so it would not be too far of a stretch to think the sheeple will think that it is ok to watch us in our home too. You know big brother has to make sure that the sheeple are not only safe from the terrorists that lurk around every corner and under every stone but they have to make sure that you are safe from yourself too.

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- AxelPhantom
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:13pm
  My kids came running into the house one day saying there was a small heliocopter hovering in our front yard (we are on an occasional flight path between military bases so heliocopter sounds don’t always get my attention) . You cannot see our house from the road, nor our neighbor’s. Guess who? GOOGLE EARTH (found out later). By the time I grabbed the shotgun(.00 of course), they were moving on down the road stopping at every house that could not be seen from the road. CREEPY ****!
  
  Report this comment
kickagrandma
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:23pm
Fly them over OUR HOUSE, the wh, and OUR SERVANTS, congress…. Let’s see what’s really going on….

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Fus Patrol
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:21pm
This a tool to fight crime. Or maybe you all think Police departments shouldn’t use technology. Maybe we should go back to the days of Policing without body armor, radios, vehicles, flashlights, computers, surveillance video and using blackjacks on people instead of Tasers. I’m sure you would all be so much safer then.

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- Gonzo
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:27pm
  In the hands of a benevolent government it’s a tool to fight crime. We haven’t had one of those in quite a while.
  
  Report this comment
- Lord D.O.O.M.
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:53pm
  I will arm myself with an RC jet fighter plane. This could get fun in a hurry.
  
  Report this comment
- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:49pm
  Actually, at the time they used all of those things, we were much safer.
  
  Constant surveillance of a population accused of no crime is not “fighting crime”, it’s a police state. If you want to live in a police state, move to North Korea, don’t foist your desire on the rest of us please.
  
  Report this comment
- WAKEUPUSA2012
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 4:21pm
  FOOL
  
  we are in a police state. But maybe you wont get it until things look like 1940 NAZI GERMANY
  
  Report this comment
- pamela kay
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 5:29pm
  FUS PATROL, This is in preparation of what they have planned for us. Sorus was making a call to his followers to carry out his mission. We are in serious trouble. Why does Obama call for a civilian army, better funded and trained than our own military? This is not only further invasion of our privacy but also a method to patrol us and keep us from organizing in numbers for self protection. There are no limits to this especially since they have issued the right to detain Americans without any rights. Google Earth is assisting them with the mapping of our properties. Any new structures added will be known and questioned. There are systems in place to monitor our phones and computers. What do you think is the purpose for all of this? For our protection? Or for the ability to control and monitor our every move? This is The Land of the Free that our people have fought and died to honor and protect? I am sure those of us here will be closely watched and under suspicion for merely expressing our opinion that differs from theirs. I say this not to get everyone fired up and on the attack but as a person that is deeply concerned . The very last thing that we need to do is start ANY thing that would put the rest of us in danger. Common sense is needed and control of our own actions. Please do not be tempted to fall prey to their scheme. That is EXACTLY what they want and expect from us. To do this would snowball into a disaster that would open the door for martial-law to be enforced.
  
  Report this comment
Matt
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:20pm
Just because it is cheaper to make them now or they are more accessible does not mean it is ethical for the police to have unrestricted use of them

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shogun459
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:17pm
WCBS-TV also cited an interview with NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in which he mentioned the NYPD’s ability to shoot down an aircraft, if that for some reason became necessary. It is more likely, however, that Commissioner Kelly was referring to the NYPD’s .50 Caliber rifles, which could theoretically bring down a small plane in the event of a terrorism emergency.

This is an example of a reporter making an ASS U MEtion. He should take the Commish at his word, they CAN shoot down planes. He didn’t say small plane either.
Unless you are Anne Oakley and lucky you Can’t shoot an evading plane down with bolt action 50 cal. rifle.

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dangmc
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:15pm
Holy Smokes! Batplanes!

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lukerw
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:11pm
SkyNet…

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mamawalker
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:09pm
This is just the tip of the iceberg if BO gets second term!

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- Gonzo
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:20pm
  Which one of the Republicans would stop it? I can think of one. The rest of them would love this.
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:25pm
  @Gonzo The patriot you’re thinking of is Paul and yes he would stop it.
  
  Report this comment
- Gonzo
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:30pm
  Slayer, Unfortunately, a lot of us will be voting in hopes that a zebra will change it’s stripes.
  
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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:34pm
  Gonzo I’m no fool I know Paul won’t get the nomination I’m saying he wouldn’t approve of big brother
  and 24/7 surveillance.
  
  Report this comment
- Gonzo
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:45pm
  No he wouldn’t and no he won’t get the nomination. So we all end up voting for one of these guys and hoping he’ll be different from what he’s ever been and we all get disappointed once again. It’s as if the Tea Party never existed.
  
  Report this comment
Gonzo
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:08pm
Who would have ever thought the movie Robocop 2 was prophetic.

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- shogun459
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:20pm
  Gonzo,
  SciFi has always been prophetic,
  IF one man can imagine something,
  Another man will find a way to make a thing,
  Another man will find a way to use it to subjegate his fellows.
  
  Report this comment
- Gonzo
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:31pm
  Yea, I’m still waiting on the flying car and they give us this instead.
  
  Report this comment
AxelPhantom
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:08pm
They’ve been using drones in Austin, Tx for quite some time now against citizenry.

http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/privacy-issues-hover-over-police-drone-use-1203350.html

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- copatriots
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:23pm
  In the backyard of Rick Perry? Say it isn’t so….. LOL If he couldn’t ensure freedoms in Austin, there is no way he could have fought the powerful machine that is DC.
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:07pm
.
Anti-Drone Check List:

1. Roof Top

2. Lawn Chair’s

3. Binoculars

4. Ice Chest

5. Ice

6. Lot’s of Beer

7. Chips & Snacks

8. A couple of .22mag w/ 10x scope

9. Invite all my Crazy Coonass buddies over for target practice

10. Chalkboard to keep score

That should take care of the Drone’s………….

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- mamawalker
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:10pm
  lol…there you go again making me spit soda on my computer!
  
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- copatriots
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:21pm
  Add a video cam, Spank! That’s the kind of reality TV I could watch. :-)
  
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- JayCee
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 3:42pm
  When they are arnmed with more than a camera and start shooting back it could get really interesting.
  
  Report this comment
- RedDawn2012
  Posted on January 26, 2012 at 5:25am
  For way more fun and far less chance of a felonious arrest, I’d replace item #8 with “An r/c helicopter with forward aiming video camera.” With that I’d chase their drone and buzz it ’till they gave up (or I got low on “fuel”). For under $100 you can get a 24″ to 30″ chopper with a range of 300′ and 15 minute flight time with hi-quality color video camera included.
  
  Report this comment
Detroit paperboy
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:02pm
The biggest threat to our freedom is the Government
The biggest threat to the Government is US… Wake up people, this is now a police state….its no longer to protect and serve….. Its about REVENUE GATHERING… they look out for them… PERIOD !

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doubletap357
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 1:55pm
Why not NYC is already run by a totalitarian regime anyway.

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- copatriots
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:18pm
  And the NYC loons continue to vote for the very ones who take away their freedom while influencing the national votes to take away the rest of the country’s freedoms too. Gee Thanks, NYC.
  
  The apple is rotten.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 25, 2012 at 2:32pm
  They will gleefully participate in their own and the republics demise because the police would never abuse their authority with regards to surveillance.
  
  Report this comment

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