The confluence of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technology and cheaper and deadlier drones pose an increasing threat to cities and towns across the United States, according to a report from the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank.
The report, titled “A Clear and Present Danger,” is not the first time the group has warned about the growing threat from drones. While there have been no publicly reported major attacks by drones within the United States, the easier access to cheaper drones has dramatically increased the technology’s “potential to inflict chaos and carnage,” the report states, particularly if they were to be used with A.I.
Most drones used in the United States are for commercial and civilian use, and fall under federal jurisdiction. Law enforcement should treat the dangers of the technology with the same urgency that federal investigators should have treated terrorism threats that led to the Sept. 11 attacks, the report states.
According to data collected by the group, unauthorized drones are flying into football stadiums on game days, highlighting how serious of a public safety issue this has become. In New York City, about 23,000 illegal drone flights are reported monthly, the report said. And during the World Cup this summer, hundreds of drones were seized this summer near World Cup games across the United States.
“Twenty-five years ago, our nation paid a terrible price for a failure of imagination,” Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the group, wrote in the report. “We cannot afford to make the same mistake again.”
Anxiety about artificial intelligence and its potential risks — to the environment and to safety — have reached a flashpoint in the nation. The growing use of drones in wars across the world and rising use of A.I. technology, has brought the issue of autonomous weapons back to the forefront.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone was guided by A.I. when it killed three people after crashing into a wall and exploding. Ukrainian officials have said that Russia was testing self-targeting A.I. systems. In the war in Iran, the U.S. military modeled and deployed low-cost drones to respond to Iran’s own arsenal of drones, called the Shahed drones.
In June, federal officials said they foiled a plot to attack the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches that took place on the White House lawn. According to charging documents, the plot involved explosive-laden drones and rifles.
Jessica Tisch, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, has spoken about the proliferation of drones, which were once limited to the military but are now in the hands of more individuals.
“If there is one threat that keeps me up at night, it is from drones,” Ms. Tisch said during a news conference in May as the city was preparing for the World Cup. “Commercial drones can be easily adapted into weapons of war. That reality matters in New York City.”
Last month, during the U.S. Open, Ms. Tisch announced that the New York Police Department now had federal approval to bring down unauthorized drones during major events in the city.
That authority was granted under the Safer Skies Act, which Congress passed in December, giving local governments permission to disable and take down drones that are a threat to public safety.
Before the policy change, local law enforcement agencies didn’t have the proper training or equipment and had to rely on federal officials, Mr. Wexler said. The policy change is a turning point for local law enforcement, Mr. Wexler said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened the National Counter-UAS Training Center in Huntsville, Al., to train officers from around the country, according to the report.
Since the Police Executive Research Forum’s first drone report in 2019, the group has held meetings with private security executives, local law enforcement leaders and federal officials, including the deputy chief of the Kyiv region in Ukraine.
Christopher O’Leary, a former senior F.B.I. counterterrorism official who retired in 2023, said drone technology has “alarming potential” for terrorists to use it in the United States and “our ability to counter it is limited.”
“The evolution of drone technology and the ubiquitous nature of it and the ease of acquisition makes it something anyone can get their hands on, and also alter and tinker with to meet their needs,” he said.
Most drones used for public safety in the United States are made in China, making the technology a national security threat, the report said. The Federal Communications Commission banned some new foreign-made drones from being sold in the country last year, but the technology continues to enter the United States through “rebranded products sold under shell company names,” according to the report.
Sean Patterson, chief of the University of Tennessee Police Department, said a trip he took to Ukraine with Mr. Wexler last year changed how he thought about drones. Chief Patterson, who served for 22 years in the N.Y.P.D. and was a rookie on Sept. 11, 2001, said he has “seen firsthand the lethality of terrorist organizations.” His visit to Ukraine showed him how easy it can be to use that technology for harm, he said.
“If police leaders that are in places that have large venues are not thinking about it, they need to think about it now,” he said, adding that in his case, more than 103,000 come to University of Tennessee’s campus for football games.
William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.
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