The New York Police Department (NYPD) has posted a video of its new Spot robot dog roaming the Bronx earlier this week. The dog, renamed Digidog, is currently being tested and was deployed at a home invasion crime scene.
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The New York Police Department used drones during New Year’s Eve to watch over and monitor Times Square to ensure everything ran smoothly. During a press conference on the 27th of December counterterrorism chief, Martine Materasso let us in on the security measures that will take place during the event, which included drones and the FBI.
The NYPD will monitor the skies over Manhattan during the New York City Pride March this coming Sunday, mostly because they fear that drones could fall from the sky, top officials said on Tuesday
In fact, two NYPD officers working crowd control during a well-known rabbi’s funeral were injured today. One NYPD officer was hit on the head by an illegally-flown drone, while the other was injured when the hearse ran over his leg in Brooklyn, NY.
The New York Police Department wants the authority to take down drones if they are deemed to be a threat. Officials from the NYPD are concerned about weaponized drones such as the ones we have seen used in the Middle East to drop explosives. Federal law-enforcement officials are authorized to disable or shoot down a drone since 2018, however, local law enforcement agencies are not. The NYPD now seeks to change this, but it would take additional federal legislation to do so.
As we reported last year, the NYPD had planned to use a tethered drone to help keep everybody safe during the famous ball drop at Times Square in New York during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. However, the rain, unfortunately, put a halt to those plans and no NYPD drone was deployed.
For the first time, counter-drone technology and NYPD drones will guard the NYE ball drop at Times Square in New York. Police officials have said that there is no known threat to the New Year’s Eve festivities in the city. The counter-drone technology and New York police drones will be present as a precaution and as part of the safety measures.
Today the New York Police or NYPD announced that they will start using 14 DJI drones. The aircraft are to be used for reconstructing traffic crashes, crime scenes, securing large events and search-and-rescue operations. Some people fear however that ‘mission creep’ may set in and worry that the drones might be used to spy on law-abiding citizens. During a demonstration today, the NYPD denied the drones would be used for that purpose.
CBS New York joined the NYPD on a mission to hunt drones in New York City. With the number of drones rapidly increasing, 770,000 drones have been registered with the FAA as of earlier this year, so is the number of drone incidents. CBS2’s Maurice Dubois took to the sky with the NYPD to see how they are cracking down on rogue drones.