No Kings, No Parachutes, No Problem?! NYPD Flies Skydio Drones Directly Over NYC Protest Crowds

The NYPD deployed at least six or seven Skydio X10 drones over Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ protest march in Manhattan—or maybe it was eight or nine, officers weren’t entirely sure—but they were crystal clear about one thing: not a single one of these Skydio drones had parachutes. And when you’re flying 4.65-pound (2.11 kg) unmanned aircraft directly over crowds at 200 feet, that’s no joke.

TARU officers confirmed to DroneXL at the scene that the Skydio X10 drones monitoring demonstrators as they marched from Times Square to 14th Street on October 18, 2025, lacked parachute recovery systems—despite the department’s own crash history, including a May incident where a Skydio X10 crashed and caught fire on a Brooklyn precinct roof.

READ MORE: Beyond Obstacle Avoidance: What First Responders Must Know About Drone Operations Over People

Officers Operated Without Direct Line of Sight, Near-Miss With Balloon

TARU officers positioned at 139 W 48th St, just around the corner from the start of the ‘No Kings’ protest march, operated their Skydio surveillance drones without direct visual contact—a practice that raises important questions about adherence to FAA Part 107’s visual line of sight requirements, even with the NYPD’s advanced shielded operations waiver.

During the operation, one drone experienced a near-miss with a flying balloon, underscoring the unpredictable risks associated with flying over large crowds.

While these Skydio drones are equipped with state-of-the-art AI-powered obstacle avoidance designed to navigate around static obstacles in real time, their system does not reliably detect or avoid fast-moving objects like balloons. This limitation highlights an operational vulnerability in BVLOS flights over dynamic, crowded environments where sudden airborne hazards can arise.

Such drone incidents emphasize the critical need for continued risk assessment and possible procedural adjustments to ensure public safety while leveraging drone surveillance technology.

One officer told DroneXL that “there have been cases where Skydio drones had fallen out of the sky” and agreed that “safety parachutes would make flying over crowds safer.”

Parachutes Only on Dock-Based Skydio Drones

The NYPD’s operational approach creates a safety disparity: only Skydio X10 drones deployed from automated docks are equipped with parachute systems, according to officers. The drones used for protest monitoring—which fly directly over crowds—lack this critical safety feature.

DroneXL observed Skydio drones positioned at multiple locations along the march route: one flying far ahead of the protest, one at the front of the march operated from a moving police vehicle, one near the middle launched from 160 W 34th St, and another near West 48th-50th Street near Times Square.

The Skydio X10 drones launched from side streets and held stationary positions at 200 feet directly above the protesters marching down 7th Avenue. When the battery ran low, TARU pilots would land the unmanned aircraft, swap the battery, and send it right back over the crowds. The positioning raises an obvious question: Why not fly the drones alongside 7th Avenue instead of directly overhead? The aerial perspective would be nearly identical, but if a drone failed, it would crash onto a rooftop or scaffolding rather than into protesters below.

Massive Operational Scale Revealed

A TARU officer revealed to DroneXL that the NYPD has already logged over 20,000 drone flights in 2025—an extraordinary operational tempo that makes the department one of the world’s most active law enforcement drone operators.

The officer emphasized that drones are “much easier and faster to use than helicopters and ‘1000 times’ less expensive,” explaining the dramatic shift in aerial surveillance tactics.

DJI Drones Phased Out for Routine Operations

Officers confirmed that DJI drones are “hardly being used anymore except for special missions”—presumably operations that the Skydio aircraft cannot perform. DroneXL previously reported that the entire NYPD now operates Skydio drones for standard operations, driven by data security concerns over Chinese-manufactured unmanned aircraft and federal pressure to use American-made technology.

One officer told DroneXL that as many as nine Skydio X10 drones and one NYPD helicopter were deployed to monitor Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ protest march.

DroneXL’s Take

This marks the second time DroneXL has documented NYPD drone operations at No Kings protests, following our June 2025 coverage of similar surveillance along Fifth Avenue. Back then, TARU officers told us the department needed FAA approval to fly over people. That approval came in the form of the agency’s groundbreaking “shielded operations” waiver, which allows BVLOS flights up to 200 feet (61 meters) above ground level.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: the NYPD’s advanced operational waivers don’t explicitly address flying over open-air assemblies like protests. The FAA’s Category 2 and Category 3 regulations for operations over people include specific provisions for sustained flight over assemblies—provisions that typically require enhanced safety measures.

The officers’ candid admission that Skydio drones have fallen from the sky, combined with the near-miss with a balloon and operators positioned without direct visual contact, paints a picture of aggressive operational tactics that may be pushing regulatory boundaries. When a 4.7-pound (2.1-kilogram) drone falls from 200 feet, the kinetic energy alone could cause serious injury.

The scale is staggering: 20,000+ flights in less than a year means the NYPD is launching drones roughly 55 times per day. That’s an incredible operational tempo that’s transforming how the department monitors everything from 911 calls to protests. But operational efficiency shouldn’t come at the expense of public safety, especially when the technology exists—parachutes—to dramatically reduce risk.

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