As police launch more drones, NY lawmakers seek to protect privacy rights

ALBANY — The State Legislature, fearing civil rights abuses, is poised to restrict the use of drones that are in operation in more than 500 governments and police agencies statewide.

Governments use airborne drones to monitor traffic patterns, manage wildlife, watch for sharks off Long Island, and react to natural disasters, among other tasks. But much of the proposed legislation focuses on the increasing use of drones in law enforcement.

State police now have 132 drones, and the Suffolk County and Nassau County police departments have the most drones — 33 each — of any local law enforcement agency in the state. 

Supporters of the use of drones see the devices as a tool that can defuse tense situations, such as those involving hostages, while protecting police officers and civilians at crime scenes and assisting in tracking fleeing suspects.

Critics, however, said once a drone is in the air, its ability to watch individuals, groups and vehicles is limitless. Drones can be paired with facial recognition software or other software that allows people to be identified by their gait, while lenses can peer into windows with clarity.

“New York is keeping its foot on the gas when it comes to intrusive surveillance,” said Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Unchecked, these eyes in the sky can give law enforcement and the government unsolicited access to people’s identities, movements and association — putting our privacy rights severely at risk."

Several pending bills in Albany range from banning use of drones by law enforcement outright, to requiring search warrants for police to use them, to narrowly defining the duties drones can perform for governments and police.

Part of the NYCLU’s concern is the increased use of drones by the New York City Police Department and “spying tools along the Long Island coast,” Schwarz said. Gov. Kathy Hochul this year said 18 drones are being deployed on Long Island shores — 10 more than last year — to spot sharks.

The NYCLU study “Prying Eyes” cited federal records for 2020 to 2022 to show there were at the time 530 active drone registrations statewide by 85 governments, 327 of which were operated by law enforcement. 

“The State Police use our unmanned aerial systems for a number of law enforcement and public safety missions,” said state police spokeswoman Marissa Edwards in the department’s response to Newsday. “The unmanned aircraft provide a significant cost savings when compared to our manned aircraft [helicopters and fixed-wing airplanes], offer reduced response times, and can be used in dangerous situations and environments, including natural disasters, keeping troopers out of harm’s way.”

Since state police started using drones for its Unmanned Aircraft System in 2017, common missions have included locating missing people, assessing damage from floods, searching for evidence and to photograph crime scenes, and to enhance security at large public events, according to their statement. Other uses include reconstructing serious motor vehicle accidents, which can also reduce traffic delays because of crashes.

State police said it now has 120 certified pilots for its drones.

Nassau County police spokesman Richard LeBrun said the department "utilizes its 33 drones for a variety of investigative purposes such as the reconstruction of crime scenes, monitoring sea life near our shores and access to situations where their use provides an increased measure of safety for our officers and the public."

Spokespersons for the Suffolk County Police Department and the state Police Chiefs Association didn’t respond to requests for comment.

One of the companies that build drones, Seattle-based BRINC, had 250 law enforcement customers last year and 400 so far this year, including interest from the NYPD, said David Benowitz, director of marketing for the company.

Its latest model, the Lemur II, has a video camera and two-way communication, four propellers, can fit through doorways and break windows, can travel 20 minutes by air and provide direct communications at a crime scene for five to 10 hours. Other features include night vision and thermal vision, bright lights and a siren. The drone also can create 3D maps of building interiors to aid police if they must enter hallways and rooms.

“It really results in safer communities,” Benowitz said.

BRINC and State police wouldn’t discuss the price of drones. Dronelife, a trade publication, estimated that many police drones cost about $9,000 each with training for up to four officers costing about $2,500. But the cost of a police drone varies widely depending on the attachments, uses and number purchased. For example, the MUS Heavy Duty Police Drone is advertised at a cost starting at $58,000 each, while the Yuneec H520E Police Drone is advertised at $2,199.

The proposals in Albany reflect the friction between the value of drones in law enforcement and the concerns over privacy and constitutional rights. The proposed legislation seeks to get ahead of the explosion in use of drones to create guardrails, even as the technology quickly evolves to take on more tasks.

The broad mix of legislative proposals include:

• Banning law enforcement from using drones.
• Prohibiting government drones at protests and other legal gatherings.
• Requiring search warrants issued by a judge for police to deploy a drone.
• Limiting their use for counterterrorism purposes to instances in which there is “a high risk of terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization based on credible intelligence.”
• Prohibiting drones from being armed, although no police agency in New York does that now.
• Prohibiting police from sharing the data with other police, including federal agents, unless that data remains confidential. That would apparently ban the use of drones for enforcing immigration laws.
• Prohibiting judges from issuing warrants to police to use drones.

Benowitz said the future likely will include broader use of drones for first responders — to assist firefighters and in medical emergencies.

But it is precisely that potential for versatile, widespread use of drones by police, governments and companies that has raised concern among state legislators.

Nationwide, since 2013, at least 44 states have restricted use of drones, including by government and police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“We should be able to attend a concert, protect or express our First Amendment rights without fear that police are using drones to spy on us without a warrant,” said State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), co-sponsor of the proposed Protect our Privacy Act with Assemb. Ron Kim (D-Queens). “On the heels of police transparency issues, we must ensure law enforcement surveillance tools do not provide another avenue to unlawful surveillance.”

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.