Privacy concerns are being raised about the New Orleans Police Department’s expanded use of drones. However, according to former NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas, they’re not being used to peek into your backyard or windows. He says this technology is being used all over the country and is primarily deployed as a first responder to assess call-ins. “Drones are primarily being deployed in areas where an officer would need to cover a large area of ground before they could reach a call,” Serpas says.
“A drone as a first responder can get there in a couple of minutes and say either, ‘yes there is an automobile accident’ or ‘no there is no automobile accident’ or even ‘there are more vehicles involved than the phone call told us and there need to be more police units along with fire and EMS’ … a drone as a first responder can search for missing children lost in the woods because they can cover large distances of ground,” added the former New Orleans Police Chief.
While Serpas says he understands concerns from the public about invasions of privacy, he also notes that public spaces are just that: public. “There’s always been a reliable and needed pushback to stop the government from trampling over constitutional rights. A drone flying over New Orleans East to see the state of an automobile accident or to check on a shooting or a missing child is not invading anyone’s privacy,” Serpas added.
The former NOPD Chief says he’s seen similar concerns raised throughout the evolution of technology being used by law enforcement. “When government started hanging overt surveillance systems on light poles, the ACLU (as is their right) talked about Big Brother. Now, you look around the country and they’re everywhere and everyone understands they weren’t the bugaboo they were made out to be,” Serpas points out. He went on to say, “Some people are trying to suggest that drones would be some Orwellian surveillance platform. They are not. They are a first responder being used to make the police, fire department, and EMS more efficient. Period.”