The NYPD is using a drone to police New Year's in Times Square, but it's tied to a building so it can't crash into people's heads

Lucas Jackson/REUTERS

New Year's Eve in Times Square.

• The NYPD will use a drone to help police the celebrations in Times Square this year.
• It's the first time the NYPD has used a drone for the event, which could see up to 2 million people attend the famous ball drop.
• For safety, the drone will be tethered to a building and flown over a cordoned-off area, so it can't injure people if it falls out of the sky.

This year, the New Year's celebrations in Times Square will be policed with the help of a drone, tethered to a building so that it can't accidentally fall and land on somebody.

The 2018 event is the first time the NYPD has used a drone. NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan told the Associated Press that it will be tethered to a building and flown over a cordoned-off area so it can't fall on anyone.

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"That's going to give us a visual aid and the flexibility of being able to move a camera to a certain spot with great rapidity through a tremendous crowd," Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller told the AP.

Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said on Friday that the city is expecting up to 2 million visitors for the famous ball drop.

The NYPD also said that it will be deploying "counter drone technology" to stop people flying their own drones over the party-goers, the BBC reported.