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NYPD using drones to monitor J’Ouvert, West Indian Day Parade
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Aug 31, 2023
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Bahar Ostadan / Gothamist
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Aug 31, 2023
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The NYPD will use drones starting Thursday night to monitor this weekend's J’Ouvert and the West Indian Day Parade festivities – continuing a deeper investment in police drones under Mayor Eric Adams.
Police said they will use the drones to respond to “priority and non-priority” calls this weekend, including 311 complaints about loud parties.
“We want everyone to have a celebratory weekend with the least amount of enforcement,” Chief of Patrol John Chell told reporters on Thursday. “That’s the goal.”
The drones will send images to a control operations unit inside police headquarters. The images will help field commanders determine how many officers to send to a scene, authorities said. Chell has said that drones can respond to calls quicker than a patrol car, especially during crowded events.
Thousands of officers will be patrolling central and south Brooklyn throughout the long weekend across several police bureaus, including counterterrorism and intelligence units, patrol officers, detectives, and community affairs officers. Police will also use license plate readers along the parade route to scan for stolen cars, officials said on Thursday.
“Last year was one of our safest and most successful Labor Days on record, and we intend to achieve the same results this year,” Chell said.
Streets along the parade route will be closed beginning Sunday night. Flatbush Avenue will be blocked off from Grand Army Plaza to Empire Boulevard in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
Revelers entering the float area through any of the parade’s 13 entrances will be subject to search, said Assistant Chief of Patrol for Brooklyn South Charles McEvoy.
Earlier this week, local precinct commanders worked with “gang leaders” to issue ceasefire warnings as part of a weekslong preparation for the parade, Chell said.
A history of gun violence has speckled J’Ouvert. Five people were shot as recently as 2020, including a 6-year-old boy.
Activists have meanwhile criticized the department for overpolicing the events. Equality for Flatbush sued the NYPD in 2019 for denying the organization’s request for information about the number and types of NYPD officers deployed to cover the 2016 parade.
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Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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