@seawulf575 I don’t see how sending a drone up to check on things prior to deploying the actual cop would add a nalf hour to an hour to the job, but what do I know. As for horses, there are not a ton of police horses in use in the city, only for occasions like a parade, for crowd control. There are five boroughs in the city, and I’ve never seen police horses in any of the outer boroughs or upper Manhattan (outer boroughs being Staten Island, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens). Bikes, I don’t know how practical they are for police to show up at a party and possibly have to arrest someone if they arrive on a bike.
You definitely bring up good points about technology and the use of drones – it’s all food for thought. It’s what the ACLU is concerned about, too, so I guess you and the ACLU are on the same page regarding it, which is great.
I’m not entrenched in defense of drones, just bringing up points for those who don’t know the conditions (unique conditions) police in NYC face, unlike other cities. I’ve been to other cities in the US that are not 1/5 as condensed as NYC, and their downtowns are tiny in comparison. I realize there are cities that are equally as big, such as Miami, LA, etc. but unless someone has been to NYC, and recently, not 30 years ago, they may not realize. I’ve been to street festivals in the city, such as the San Gennaro Festival, where everyone is in the street and packed together to where you just can’t move at all. I don’t enjoy those situations which is why I avoid them now. Even at Christmastime, they close 5th Avenue to traffic now because the sidewalks are too congested. I go down there then, and it’s very tiring because it’s so packed. Rock Center is congested to where you’re not moving, and you better hold the hand of the people you’re with because you’ll get separated by the crowd.