Today, a rule goes into effect that bans Florida government agencies from using drones made by a “foreign country of concern,” which, if you’ve been following the drone regulation space for any amount of time, practically means DJI – and police agencies are not happy about it.
Florida government entities can no longer use DJI
A bill that was filed back in 2020 and passed in 2021 is finally going into total effect today, which has law enforcement agencies shelving their DJI drones. Some agencies are even grounding their entire fleet and are upset they have to use inferior and potentially dangerous replacements.
Senate Bill 44 (2021), now section 934.50 of Florida’s statutes, put in place standards and rules for use of drones by government agencies, law enforcement, fire departments, and others. Many of these rules were already in place and included having a system to release images or videos taken by the drone to the public and proper storage of drones. The final part of the bill went into effect today: the use of drones only on the administration’s approved list.
Florida’s approved list of drones:
- Skydio
- Parrot
- Altavian
- Teal Drones
- Vantage Robotics
If you didn’t recognize the last three names, don’t worry – I had to look them up too. Teal Drones and Vantage Robotics seem to be US companies that are focused on the defense and public safety markets, a sector that has dramatically opened up since the federal government here in the States has also banned Chinese drones from its use. Altavian, who I still had to look up but did recognize the name, was purchased by FLIR and doesn’t go by that name anymore.
Florida law enforcement isn’t happy with the changes
It doesn’t sound like many officers in Florida are happy to be forced to ground a handy tool for something that could “put us in danger,” according to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Col. Robert Allen. Allen told lawmakers that, in the past year and a half, “we had five failures of the manufacturers on the list. DJI, none.”
DJI’s M300, M30, and Mavic 3 Enterprise drones are the latest in a long line of products tailored toward law enforcement, public safety, and other professional needs. Last year, I spent three days speaking with DJI enterprise users at the company’s Airworks conference. (DJI covered travel costs for me to attend but did not sponsor our coverage or have any say in what we can report.) No matter who I talked to, whether for public safety or agriculture, everyone found DJI drones the best in the industry for these use cases and can be relied on during the most stressful scenarios.
Now, that doesn’t mean DJI is the only option out there. US drone manufacturers are working on catching up with DJI. Autel also just recently released its public safety-focused EVO Max 4T. However, they are also banned from being used by Florida agencies since it is built in China.
We reached out to DJI for a comment on the ban, and this is what a spokesperson told us:
Today’s Florida ruling against the use of Chinese-made drones for law enforcement is a regrettable development and is unjustified.
A vast number of government agencies and commercial entities in the U.S. rely on and use DJI drones in their daily work. This includes law enforcement, first responders, infrastructure inspectors, and others who know they can trust our products because they are safe and secure.
They trust us because independent audits to stress-test our cybersecurity and privacy practices demonstrate not only our products’ strength but also identify potential vulnerabilities. These independent audits include the US Department of Commerce in 2022, FTI Consulting in 2020, Booz Allen Hamilton in 2020, the Idaho National Laboratory (for the US Department of Homeland Security) in 2019, the US Department of Interior in 2019, and Kivu Consulting in 2018. The findings are consistent: Our cybersecurity/privacy practices are sound.
Any position based solely on country of origin limits competition, innovation, and possibly, endangers lives. DJI drones allow first responders to safely engage in life-threatening scenarios, inspect infrastructure otherwise not visible, and have been used to rescue hundreds of people in peril around the world. A rash, uninformed decision that limits access to our technology because of concerns about country of origin will literally cost lives.
Not everyone in the state legislature agrees with the ban, like state Senator Tom Wright, who has accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (a potential presidential candidate) of providing no proof of Chinese drone security risk. “I’m not going to let one officer risk his life or her life because somebody thinks that these things talk to China,” Write argued during a committee hearing.
DJI is not the only Chinese company being paraded in front of committees to be banned for claims of spying. TikTok, a social media site that probably needs no introduction to you, is facing a national ban by Congress. In both cases, very little hard evidence has been brought forward to prove these claims. However, the fear of Chinese influence across the United States remains high.
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