© Reuters/AAI Corporation
During an open conversation held Thursday between Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, the chief of police confirmed that New York's boys in blue aren't entirely opposed to acquiring an unmanned aerial vehicle for the sake of security.
"We're looking into it," Kelly reportedly told an audience at the 92nd Street Y Thursday evening. "Anything that helps us."
Jill Colvin, a producer for the website DNAinfo, says Kelly told his crowd that adding an UAV to their arsenal of surveillance tools could come in handy during future mass protests in the Big Apple. For starters, she reports, Kelly said cops could begin with using basic civilian models that are available for purchase online and in stores.
"You can go to Brookstone and buy a drone," Kelly told the crowd.
Comment: It's almost certain that New York City, and other large metropolitan areas, already have drones flying over them surveilling Americans. This is just an attempt to either do it publicly or to float it to the press to gauge the response of the public. Either way, this is already happening and whether or not they publicly admit it isn't going to change the fact that Americans are spied on by their government every day.