The New York Police Department recently announced plans to use drones to drop floatation devices to swimmers in need at the city's beaches, The City in New York City reports.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Operations Kaz Daughtry released a video to social media at the end of last week showing how controlling one of these drones works and now the NYPD plans to use them at city beaches in the near future.
"The goal is, we're going to be utilizing these drones for public safety, and beach safety," Daughtry says in the video. "We're gonna deploy these drones on the beach, the pilots will be flying up and down the beach keeping beachgoers and swimmers safe."
He added that if a drone operator sees a person in distress, such as someone caught in a riptide or drowning, they would be able to "hit a button" and drop a flotation device that would inflate upon hitting the water.
The NYPD did not specify how many drones it would be utilizing, or how NYPD would coordinate with the Parks Department that oversees professional lifeguards. When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson said there was no additional information beyond what was stated in the video.
Mayor Eric Adams said in his weekly briefing that the program "can be a great addition to saving lives."
However, a spokesperson for the nonprofit United States Lifesaving Association told The City that using these drones for rescue operations could prove more complicated than officials anticipate.
"There's a lot to it," he said. "It's not just as easy as throwing something up in the air and it's all going to work perfectly. A panicked victim in the water is not somebody that's easily assessed or is easy to even help when we are directly in contact with them, much less trying to drop something in that situation."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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