Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said during his trip to Israel this week that he was impressed by how the country’s law enforcement utilizes a combination of drones and motorcycles to respond to crime scenes more quickly.
“One thing really caught my eye was utilizing motorcycles and drones together,” Adams said.
“[That’s] something that we have not been using in the city, to immediately get to locations so you don’t have traffic delays. [So] that police officers are well aware of what is in front of them by the time they arrive,” he added.
Hizzoner made the comments during a virtual briefing with reporters from Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening, following a visit to the Jewish state’s National Police Academy earlier in the day. Adams is scheduled to return to the Big Apple on Thursday.
One of the stated purposes of the mayor’s three-day excursion to the Middle East — which is being funded by the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York — is to inspect how Israeli law enforcement uses technology in its operations and bring some of those practices back to the five boroughs.
The mayor also attended showcases for security and food technology and met with Israeli security officials on Wednesday.
Adams, who recently announced a new permitting process for drones that allows government agencies to utilize them, said he also noted how Israel deploys the devices for the early detection of crimes. He added that the drones showcased during the tour are more durable than those used by the NYPD and can stay in the air for longer periods of time.
“It is the methods in which they are using them, the methods in which they are training to use them, is what caught my interest,” he said.
Additionally, Adams said he was impressed by the country’s methods for crowd control, which he referred to as “really humane in nature.”
Those methods could be helpful, the mayor said, for preparing for incidents like a riot that broke out in Union Square earlier this month that critics said resulted from a lack of preparedness among the NYPD. However, he didn’t go into specifics about what methods of crowd control Israeli police use that the NYPD doesn’t.
“They strategically and successfully deal with large crowds,” Adams said. “Some methods we may not use, but there are other methods that they use and they are really humane in nature.”
Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy, who is accompanying Adams on the trip, chimed in that Israeli police officials “very specifically” talked about how they balance public safety with not infringing upon people’s democratic rights.
But the Israeli government has come under fire from advocacy groups for using facial recognition technology in the occupied West Bank to track the movements of Palestinians and restrict their access at certain checkpoints.
When asked about that criticism by a reporter, the mayor said he hadn’t discussed that particular use of facial recognition technology with Israeli officials.
“We didn’t go in depth, they use various forms of technology,” Adams said. “One thing is clear, my directions to the New York City Police Department: we will not use any tool that is not in alignment with the laws of our city and our state and our country. And so many police forces across the globe, they use various methods that are not suitable in our city, and we’re not going to use any methods that does not conform with our rights and the laws of our country.”
