New York police deploys life saver drones at city beaches

With Memorial Day marking the start of summer in many places, New York City Police officials got to work over the holiday weekend introducing drones that will keep watch over the beaches of coastal boroughs for the next four months.

As outlined in a February announcement, the drones are being positioned along New York City’s 14 miles of public beaches. When lifeguards identify swimmers in trouble, the craft will be dispatched as a faster means of reaching and dropping life-saving flotation devices to them. Many, if not all UAVs will be piloted from the municipal police drone unit’s central command. 

Drones were initially introduced last summer to assist with the rising number of shark sightings and occasional attacks off New York’s beaches. 

Extension of their use for life saving purposes comes at a particularly useful time, moreover. According to reports, the city’s usual staff of 600 lifeguards is now down to 230, as authorities struggle to find qualified people to fill the empty posts.

New York City Police deputy commissioner of operations and leading drone deployment organizer, Kaz Daughtry, posted on social media that the force and its UAVs would be in place for the Memorial Day rush on beaches, and throughout the summer.

“Thanks to @nycmayor and  @nypdpc, the @NYPDnews is embracing technology that could save lives,” Daughtry said on what most people still call Twitter. “This summer, we will be utilizing drones that can deploy a floatation device to swimmers in distress. We can also use these drones to communicate with the swimmer in distress while help is on the way. Game changing. Life saving. Enjoy the sunshine, NYC. We have the Watch.”

Seven people drowned off New York’s beaches over the past two years, down from 21 fatalities in 2021. Use of drones over the city’s sandy coast look to cut those down further – and calm lingering fears over shark sightings. 

The deployment comes amid considerable diversification of drone deployment in the city since New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a liberalization of rules governing UAV use last July. Earlier this month, Daughtry said police will station docked craft to respond to 911 calls in certain areas. 

Since Daughtry July’s annoucement, he noted, police use of drones across New York had increased 500% over the previous year.