As beads flew through the air and brass bands blared along Bourbon Street, a largely unseen force hovered above the Mardi Gras revelry: drones.

For the first time in the celebration’s centuries-old history, drones were deployed at scale during the final, most crowded week of New Orleans’ famed Mardi Gras festival — not to film the festivities, but to keep them safe.

As part of the 2025 Mardi Gras events, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) partnered with Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team to provide aerial surveillance throughout the city’s carnival corridors. The result: more than 140 drone flights, totaling 45 hours of flight time, during peak Mardi Gras celebrations.

The drones offered what law enforcement calls “UAS overwatch” — real-time situational awareness from above, giving officers on the ground a live, high-altitude look at crowd movements, traffic bottlenecks, and potential threats.

“This is the first time UAS is being used on a large scale during Mardi Gras,” said Chris Sanders, senior manager for Verizon’s Frontline Crisis Response Team, which specializes in emergency communication and drone deployment for public safety agencies. “To be asked for by name speaks to the trust we’ve built and how seriously we take our responsibility to support first responders.”

Police department drone use expands nationwide

The deployment of drones for crowd monitoring isn’t unique to New Orleans. Across the country, police departments are increasingly integrating drones into daily operations. In Chula Vista, California — home to one of the nation’s most sophisticated police drone programs — drones are launched to the scene of 911 calls before officers even arrive. In New York, the NYPD has used drones during events like Times Square’s New Year’s Eve ball drop and during large protests to track crowd movement.

And just recently,  the Palm Springs Police Department hugely expanded its Drone as First Responder (DFR) program. That move made Palm Springs the largest radar-enabled municipal drone response zone in the United States.

But across all police departments — NOPD or otherwise — drone use is not without controversy. Privacy advocates have raised concerns over warrantless surveillance and the potential for drone technology to expand beyond oversight into overreach. Civil liberties groups like the ACLU have urged departments to develop transparent policies around data storage, facial recognition, and accountability.

Still, departments like the NOPD see drones as a vital modern tool, particularly for large-scale events where ground visibility is limited and resources are stretched.

“Mardi Gras is one of the largest events the NOPD manages each year,” said Officer Reese Harper, NOPD’s director of communications. “Utilizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems during this year’s festivities provided our officers with enhanced situational awareness, helping us monitor crowds, respond more effectively to potential concerns, and keep the celebration safe for everyone.”

With more than a million people flooding the streets of New Orleans during the multi-week Mardi Gras season — a celebration that injects an estimated $1 billion into the city’s economy annually — the stakes are high. For the NOPD, drones served as an extra pair of eyes, scanning the skies for signs of trouble.

What is Verizon Frontline?

Verizon Frontline, which provides emergency tech infrastructure like mobile hotspots and portable cell towers to public safety agencies at no cost to the supported agencies, has increasingly leaned into drone support. Their Crisis Response Team operates on a 24/7 basis, rapidly deploying drones and communications tools during everything from hurricanes to wildfires.

The company’s growing footprint in public safety comes amid increased competition among telecoms to supply first responders with reliable communications technology — a race that also includes AT&T’s FirstNet network. Verizon touts its three decades of partnership with public safety officials as a reason agencies like the NOPD are turning to them.

Whether scenarios like drones at Mardi Gras becomes the norm for large-scale public events remains to be seen. For now, the drone’s-eye view has landed a spot in the city’s playbook for public safety.

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