NO POLICE DRONES IN OUR CITY: Demand a withdrawal of the $740,000 drone proposal by FQMD and NOPD
Demand a withdrawal of the $740,000 police drone proposal by FQMD and NOPD
What Happens in New Orleans, Stays in A Database FOREVER
What is happening?
The NOPD and the French Quarter Management District (FQMD) are proposing a dangerous $740,000 Drone as First Responder (DFR) program that would launch camera‑equipped drones to many 911 calls over the French Quarter.
The “Drones as a First Responder” follows a model being pushed into cities across the country, as part of a major expansion of aerial police surveillance—not a one‑off tool, but an ongoing system built for constant use.
JUNE 17th Update
On June 15th, 2026, EOS, VOTE, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and William Quigley, filed legal action against City Council regarding several instances of Open Meeting Law violations at the April 16th City Council meeting that approved the budget amendment for the dangerous police drone program. The public process for this dangerous police program has been plagued with a severe lack of transparency to the public, including the presence of a half a million contribution from a private investor, truncated public comment time at the City Council meeting and now, a surprise hearing on the budget allocation for the police drone program on June 24th.
On June 24th let's make sure City Council can hear us loud and clear -- NEW ORLEANS DOES NOT WANT DANGEROUS POLICE DRONES!
Join us on June 24th at 10 AM
City Council Meeting
1300 Perdido St
Please sign our petition demanding this dangerous police drone program gets removed from any agenda and City Council opposes any similar dangerous surveillance tech.
Why should I oppose police drones?
Police drones are a terrible and dangerous city investment. Amid a budget deficit, that has caused hundreds of furloughs, cuts to youth and family programs, and whole city offices shut down, we cannot afford to lock New Orleans into an expensive, long‑term aerial surveillance system.
Police drones present serious civil liberties and privacy issues. Equipped with high‑definition cameras, thermal sensors, and live video streams—features adapted from military use—these drones enable invasive surveillance that infringes on our privacy and rights.
We don’t visit the French Quarter to be surveilled and followed by police drones. Tourists who visit our lovely city, or workers who make this city’s economy run don’t deserve and shouldn’t have to worry about their privacy and private lives being recorded, stored, and shared via NOPD’s various surveillance technologies. The French Quarter is already the most surveilled area of New Orleans, we don’t need to add aerial surveillance to an already extensive network of surveillance cameras.
If we build it, it will be used — and likely tapped by other agencies, including federal ones like ICE and CBP, in ways that further erode our privacy and free speech. Through the state Fusion Center, footage from these drones can be accessed by agencies like ICE and CBP.
Drones originated as weapons of war and are increasingly repurposed for domestic policing. The Skydio drones that are included in the $740,000 proposal have been used by the Israeli army to surveill, track and terrorize Palestinians. Skydio drones have also been seen surveilleing NO KINGS protests in 2025. The same kinds of drone systems are marketed for military, border, and tactical operations—they are built for control and surveillance, not community care.
What starts in the French Quarter will not stay there: pilot programs like this often spread to other neighborhoods and cities. New Orleans and Louisiana has historically been used as a sacrifice zone for cancer causing chemical and plastic plants, Palantir predictive policing programs, rogue partnerships between Project NOLA and NOPD that circumvent city bans on facial recognition, and just last year, a live-facial recognition city surveillance program that thanks to community organizing, got withdrawn.
City resources should be going to community care, not dangerous surveillance tech.
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Exija la retirada de la propuesta de drones policiales de $740,000 presentada por el FQMD y el NOPD
El 15 de junio de 2026, EOS VOTE —representado por el Center for Constitutional Rights y William Quigley— presentó una demanda contra el Concejo Municipal debido a varias infracciones de la Ley de Reuniones Públicas durante la sesión del 16 de abril, en la que se aprobó la modificación presupuestaria para el peligroso programa de drones policiales. El proceso público relativo a este peligroso programa policial se ha visto empañado por una grave falta de transparencia hacia la ciudadanía; esto incluye la recepción de una contribución de medio millón de dólares por parte de un inversor privado, la reducción del tiempo destinado a los comentarios del público durante la sesión del Concejo y, ahora, una audiencia sorpresa sobre la asignación presupuestaria para dicho programa de drones, programada para el 24 de junio.
Los recursos de la ciudad deberían destinarse al cuidado de la comunidad, no a tecnologías de vigilancia peligrosas.
