NYPD considering using drones and gunshot detectors to fight crime

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday at a City Council committee hearing that he's 'supportive' of using drones.

BY Tina Moore

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, May 20, 2014, 11:54 PM

Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News The NYPD may use drones and gunshot detectors to fight crime.

Big brother may be watching and listening more closely than ever — as the NYPD considers using drones and other gizmos to fight crime in the city.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the unmanned machines equipped with cameras and tiny microphones could help spy on crime hotspots — like housing projects, where shootings are up about 32% this year.

“Myself, I’m supportive of the concept of drones, not only for police but for public safety in general,” Bratton said Tuesday. “It’s something that we actively keep looking at and stay aware of.”

Bratton, speaking in front of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, said the drones could also help the FDNY more quickly determine the extent of a fire.

John Miller, the NYPD’s head of intelligence, said cops have been studying flying drones. They’re looking at “what’s on the market, what’s available.”

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said unmanned machines equipped with cameras and tiny microphones could help spy on crime hotspots.

MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said unmanned machines equipped with cameras and tiny microphones could help spy on crime hotspots.

Miller said the NYPD has yet to deploy a drone, but called the technology a potentially valuable weapon against crime.

While drones don’t appear to be part of the city’s immediate future, the NYPD has already budgeted $500,000 for a pilot program to test gunshot detectors. Sensors connected to police cameras detect the sound of gunshots and then direct cops to their origin.

The NYPD tested the detectors in Brownsville, Brooklyn, in 2011 — but the program never expanded citywide.

The expense for the new round of gadgets would have to first be approved by City Council and Mayor de Blasio, who has been supportive of the idea of shot detectors in the past.

I’m supportive of the concept of drones, not only for police but for public safety in general.

“They’re extraordinarily effective,” Bratton said. “The mayor is supportive of it as are many members of the Council. ...The best systems are those that you can tie in with your camera systems. You not only get recording of the gunshots but you get the camera activation right away.”
Miller said the gunshot detection system could be tied in with cameras — which could include drones — to give cops a photograph of a shooter.

“You could see an application where a drone could be not only a very effective crimefighting tool but could actually show you where the bad guys are going leaving the scene,” he said.

Bratton sat on the board of ShotSpotter, a company that makes the detectors, before returning to his post as the city’s top cop in January. He said the bidding process hasn’t begun.

John Miller, the NYPD’s head of intelligence, said police have yet to deploy a drone, but called the technology a potentially valuable weapon against crime.

The gunshot devices are already being used in other cities, including Oakland and Milwaukee, with mixed results. Some of the detectors failed to decipher fireworks from gunshots.

Bratton said other cities have found that between 50% and 70% of their shootings go unreported to 911 — meaning the detectors may fill a gap in tracking crime.

“That sounds amazing, but that is the fact,” Bratton said.

Shot detectors are also a helpful predictive tool that could tip cops to future shootings, he said.

“If we have gunshots in one area, you can guarantee ... you’re going to have retaliation,” he said.
But Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former police officer, said the shot detector is no panacea.
“Shots fired is a pretty common technology now,” he said. “It can detect a shot, but the problem is having the cops get to the scene. I’ve yet to see that the technology is bringing a lot of people to justice.”
He said Newark, Chicago and Boston are also using shot detectors but he’s heard that cops don’t always get to the scene quickly enough to make a difference.

An NYPD security camera is seen in Times Square.

With the drones, he envisions a plethora of constitutional issues dogging the NYPD.

“Can you look into somebody’s house? Can you fly over their backyard?” he asked. “There’s an unlimited number of scenarios you can think of where drones can be used.”

Miami police use mini-drones but are required to get a warrant — or somebody’s life must be in danger — for their usage.

A plan by Seattle police to send miniature, unmanned helicopters carrying night-vision cameras aloft was scrapped last year after heated criticism from citizens concerned about privacy rights, Reuters reported.

It’s been an open secret for years that New York’s Finest have been eyeing drones as prospective aerial surveillance tools.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, echoed the concerns of Seattle residents.

“Drones can be useful in law enforcement,” Lieberman said, “but they should not become a vehicle for widespread, secret surveillance of the private space of innocent New Yorkers.”
tmoore@nydailynews.com