Largest US police force is using drones to curb a Central Park crime spree

The largest police force in the nation is planning to use a fleet of autonomous drones to combat an alarming surge in robberies and assaults in Central Park, the world's most iconic public green space.

The New York Police Department has already flooded the sprawling park, one of the most popular tourist sites in America, with hundreds of officers patrolling on foot, bike and horseback since violent crime began to skyrocket this summer.

"We’ve got the autonomous drones coming by the end of the month. There are over 800 acres in this park. It’s going to allow us to cover a big territory very quickly and also allow us to get images and video in places where we don’t have cameras," Tarik Sheppard, the NYPD deputy commissioner for public information, said during a recent news conference in Central Park.

According to the crime statistics through Aug. 18, there have been 33 robberies in Central Park so far in 2024, a 154% increase from this time last year. There have also been 11 felony assaults in the park this year, a 57% increase from 2023.

The jump in Central Park crime comes even as overall violent crime in the city of roughly 8.8 million people is down 2.49% from last year, according to NYPD citywide crime statistics.

'Most iconic park in the world'

"This is the most iconic park in the world, one of the most iconic locations in the world. There are no secrets being kept here. Crime is up in this park for the year, specifically robberies. Robberies are the name of the game here," NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news conference last week.

Chell said the robberies were usually occurring between the hours of 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. He said many of the robberies are being committed by juveniles, some as young as 11 years old, who on several occasions have swarmed victims in mobs sometimes as large as a dozen perpetrators.

“In this particular crime pattern, if you will, that’s happening here at the southern end, from 59th to 65th [streets] on both sides of the park involve young groups of kids," Chell said.

On June 30, two men, ages 20 and 21, were accosted in the park by a group of people who forced them to hand over their backpacks, wallets and headphones, according to police. On Aug. 1, a roving group of bandits surrounded two men sitting on a bench near Wollman Rink near the southern part of the park and robbed them at knifepoint, police said.

On Aug. 13, back-to-back robberies occurred at the southern end of the park. One of the robberies occurred about 10 p.m. when two men were confronted on the west side of the park by two assailants who forcibly snatched their chains, vape pens and one of their hats. The second robbery unfolded three hours later on the east side of the park when victims -- ages 35, 21, and 15 -- were approached by three teenagers who stole their AirPods and a necklace from one of them, according to police.

Among the assaults that have recently occurred, a 42-year-old man was repeatedly slashed with knives on July 6 at 9:45 a.m. by two strangers he got into an argument with, police said. An 82-year-old woman was accosted on Aug. 14 by a man in his 30s, who pushed her near the Central Park tennis court, causing her to suffer minor injuries, according to police.

11-year-old perpetrator

Chell said police have made several arrests in the crime spree, including one alleged perpetrator just 11 years old.

"The 11-year-old is on video using credit cards stolen from robberies where? In Central Park," Chell said. "So, this is what we're combatting."

Chell said the 11-year-old assailant and several other alleged teenage perpetrators arrested recently are among the migrants who have been pouring into the city.

But not all of the crimes have been the work of roving groups of criminals.

On June 24, a 21-year-old woman sunbathing at 1:30 p.m. in the Great Hill section of the park was attacked by a man who exposed himself and attempted to sexually assault her, police said. The victim managed to fight off the attacker who ran from the scene. A 43-year-old man, whom police identified as Jermaine Longmire, was arrested in the crime and charged with attempted rape and sexual abuse, according to police.

Longmire has pleaded not guilty to the charges and, according to online records, remains locked up at Rikers Island jail.

Chell said the NYPD has a "mandate" to keep park visitors safe.

"We’ll be deploying numerous resources throughout the days, throughout the weeks until we take care of this problem from mounted, to bike patrol, to foot patrol, to cars in the street to drones," Chell said.