Florida Bans Use Of Chinese Drones By State Officials

A law pushed by Florida governor (and a potential US Presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis prohibiting the use of Chinese drones in the state has gone into effect, grounding millions of dollars in police and state-owned drones overnight.

Florida Statute 934.50 law is an unfunded obligation, which means there will be no additional money for agencies using drones to replace their Chinese – mainly DJI or Autel – drones with alternatives, and as many have pointed out, the alternatives are sometimes inadequate. DJI is the world’s leading provider of non-military drones, offering a wide range of the finest DJI drones for most jobs.

Lieutenant Michael Crabb of the North County Sheriff’s Office asked the Florida Senate to show them the national security issues with a DJI drone. He added that he is an American and wishes that the department could buy all American-made drones, but unfortunately, there are limitations with American-made drones. Crabbs claims that 19 of a fleet of 25 drones were DJI. Crabbs added that the department actively uses  DJI drones to monitor ongoing crimes and police activities. As a result, the law would ground 19 drones and hinder their abilities to fight crime.

According to DJI, the decision in Florida is a ruling against using Chinese-made drones for law enforcement and is an unjustified, regrettable development.

Florida now has its own certified drone manufacturer list. Skydio, Parrot, Altavian, Teal Drones, and Vantage Robotics are among them. Surprisingly, Altavian cannot operate a secure website and thus is a security concern that the law’s supporters have raised. FLIR owns Altavian, although the website only shows a single fixed-wing design. Teal Drones appears to be working on an interesting product; the Teal 2, however, is a costly alternative. The controller costs more than the DJI’s Mavic 3. Vantage Robotics sells a foldable Vespar in a variety of configurations, the closest to the Mavic 3 Enterprise.

According to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Col. Robert Allen, the department noted that five drones on the manufacturers on the list were failures, and the DJI had no failures.

Even inside the Republican Party, there is no unanimity on this. Senator Tom Wright has supported using drones in vehicle chases and other law enforcement operations. This would require law enforcement and fire departments across our state to throw away nearly $200 million in DJI drones, he added. SB1514, a measure he introduced to postpone the law, has yet to be heard. The restriction does not apply to Florida residents, just government entities.

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