Opinion

The next installment of the Palestine to New Orleans pipeline is here, ladies and gentlemen. And it’s the form of drones. The French Quarter Management District (FQMD) voted last week to finance one $250,000 Skydio drone and docking station that the NOPD would be able to use. A private, anonymous party is apparently footing the rest of the bill. If the name Skydio is familiar to you, that’s probably because that’s the American company Israel used during its genocide in Gaza. Skydio “…gives Israel ‘short-range reconnaissance drones’ capable of navigating obstacles autonomously and [producing] 3D scans of complex structures like buildings,’ according to the Cairo Review.

As New Orleanians, we’ve already had our data mined by Palantir for “predictive policing.” Palantir’s role in the Gaza genocide has been well -documented as well. But have no fear. Our mayor, Helena Moreno, said the goal of the drone “Pilot program” is there so the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) can more easily track “the individuals who are perpetrating… crimes.”

“In fact,the drones don’t even start recording until they actually get to the site of where the potential crimes has happened,” she said.

Phew, what a relief.

But to play devil’s advocate: The drones used in Gaza were AI-powered. Where will it be written and enforced in New Orleans that these drones won’t be AI powered? The technology exists. It’s been used on our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Who will have a say over what’s flying over us and tracking us? The FQMD? A private donor? Is that the model we want?