NYPD using drones to keep teens from subway surfing

By Joanna Putman
Police1

NEW YORK — The NYPD is using drone video to stop teens from riding on top of subway trains, WABC reported.

Officials told WABC that while the drone video has led to some arrests, officers don’t usually arrest subway-surfing teenagers. Instead, police show the footage to their parents and teachers, according to the report.

“How many times have you interviewed moms and dads who say, ‘my kid would never do something like that,’” said NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry. “Guess what? The video doesn’t lie.”

The drones are launched from a rooftop and feed video to NYPD headquarters and the Transit Rail Control Center, according to the report. If they capture illegal activity, officers on the ground will respond to the location to pick up the teens.

The move comes after five people died this year while subway surfing, the same number as the total of subway surfing deaths between 2018 and 2022. The drones are a part of an initiative to end subway surfing deaths which started last September, according to the report.

Subway surfing on top of a train is a dangerous & reckless act with DEADLY consequences.