New Orleans Police Drones Coming As NOPD Faces Officer Shortage

NEW ORLEANS, La. — New Orleans Police Drones could soon become a much bigger part of how the city responds to emergency calls as the New Orleans Police Department continues struggling with a significant shortage of officers.

NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says the department’s new Drone as First Responder program is expected to launch later this year. The technology would allow drones to respond to certain calls before officers can physically arrive, potentially giving police an early look at what is happening on the ground.

As of Thursday, NOPD had 913 officers and 62 recruits. Kirkpatrick’s goal is to reach 1,200 officers, leaving the department nearly 300 officers below that target.

That shortage has forced the department to look at technology as another way to respond more efficiently while continuing efforts to recruit additional officers.

New Orleans Police Drones Could Arrive Before Officers

Under the program, a drone could be dispatched after certain emergency calls and provide officers with a live view of the scene before a patrol car arrives.

Supporters say that could provide police with important information before officers ever step out of their vehicles.

For example, if officers are responding to a violent incident, a drone arriving several minutes earlier could potentially determine whether a suspect is still at the scene, provide a description of a person or vehicle, or give responding officers a better understanding of what they are walking into.

The technology could also help determine whether an officer is actually needed for some calls, potentially freeing patrol officers to handle more serious incidents.

For a police department operating hundreds of officers below its desired staffing level, even a few minutes saved on individual calls could become significant when multiplied across the city.

But the plan is also raising questions about privacy.

Privacy Concerns Come With The Technology

Civil liberties advocates have questioned how much police drones will be able to see, when they will be allowed to fly, how long footage will be stored and whether increased reliance on drones could eventually become a form of widespread surveillance.

Those concerns are likely to become increasingly important as the technology expands.

NOPD has launched a public drone dashboard providing information about drone deployments, including where drones have been used and the reasons they were deployed.

Supporters argue that transparency will be important if residents are going to trust the technology.

Critics, however, may want stronger guarantees about when drones can be deployed and what happens to the video they collect.

NOPD Still Needs More Officers

The drones are not expected to replace police officers.

Instead, Kirkpatrick has argued that technology is becoming increasingly important while the department works to recruit enough people to reach its staffing goals.

With 913 officers currently on the force and dozens of recruits in the pipeline, NOPD still has substantial ground to make up before reaching the superintendent’s goal of 1,200 officers.

That leaves New Orleans facing a larger debate than simply whether drones work.

If a police department is nearly 300 officers short of its staffing goal, should technology be used to help put eyes on an emergency faster?

Or does putting more police cameras in the sky create a new set of concerns for residents?

Would you support New Orleans Police Drones responding to 911 calls in your neighborhood?