The New York City police department will use unmanned surveillance drones to monitor noisy backyard parties during the Labor Day weekend, city officials announced on Friday.
“If a caller states there’s a large crowd, a large party in a backyard, we’re going to be utilizing our assets to go up and go check on the party,” Kaz Daughtry, the assistant NYPD Commissioner, said at a press conference, according to i24NEWS.
The move appears to be inspired by New York City Mayor Eric Adams' trip to Israel last week, where he expressed his admiration for the use of drone technology by Israeli security services. The newest policy, however, has already drawn complaints from privacy and civil liberties advocates.
“They are a little bit more advanced,” Adams told reporters in Tel Aviv of the drones used by Israel Police. “It is the method in which they’re using them, the methods in which they are training to use them, is what caught my interest."
“You all know that I’m a great fan of technology and all it can do to make our lives easier and safer,” Adams added. “And Israel is on the cutting edge of exciting developments in technology that will benefit all of us.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)