{"id":151738,"date":"2023-04-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=916269"},"modified":"2023-04-05T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T00:00:00","slug":"cops-are-mad-at-ron-desantis-because-he-forces-crappy-made-in-usa-drones-on-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/04\/05\/cops-are-mad-at-ron-desantis-because-he-forces-crappy-made-in-usa-drones-on-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Cops Are Mad at Ron DeSantis Because He Forces Crappy Made-in-USA Drones on Them"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
\nNew Florida restrictions on drones manufactured by a \u201cforeign country of concern\u201d set to take effect this week have left local police, firefighters, and even mosquito control teams scrambling to maintain normal operations and ensure basic safety.
\nA Ron DeSantis-backed ban technically applies to drones manufactured in more than half a dozen countries, but its most clear target is dominant Chinese drone-making giant DJI, whose products are widely used amongst government agencies. Local officials and law enforcement opposed to the ban worry the sudden departure from trusted DJI drones to inferior US-made alternatives\u2014some of which spontaneously combust\u2014could unnecessarily put workers\u2019 safety in jeopardy to score some cheap, tough-on-China political points.
\nRead more
\n\u200b\u200b\u201cIn one year and a half, we had five failures of the manufacturers on the [approved] list. DJI, none,\u201d Orlando Police Sgt. David Cruz said in an interview with the Miami Herald. \u201cThat\u2019s going to put us in danger, our officers in danger, and the public in danger, when these drones continue to fall out of the sky.\u201d
\nWhy does Ron DeSantis want to ban DJI drones?
\nThe new drone restrictions stem from a broader DeSantis executive order passed late last year with the state purpose of making it more difficult for \u201chostile foreign powers\u201d to do business in Florida. That order bans government agencies from procuring products made by companies based in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela. DeSantis, who is widely believed to be eyeing a 2024 presidential run, said these broad restrictions were necessary to prevent China from \u201cworming its way into our nation\u2019s data storage systems.\u201d
\nDeSantis used similar language back in February when he proposed a new \u201cDigital Bill of Rights\u201d that, amongst other things, seeks to ban TikTok in universities and public schools. Those concerns over Chinese espionage sound scary and are hypothetically possible, but so far neither DeSantis or any other lawmakers has come forward with any concrete evidence for their fears.
\nStory continues
\nA Florida-approved, made-in-the-USA drone caught fire in a police car
\nWith DJI and other widely used drones out of the picture, government agencies will instead have to turn to more expensive and arguably less practical US-made alternatives included in the state\u2019s Approved Drone Manufacturer List. The sudden change marks a radical departure for police agencies in particular, which have spent over $200 million on DJI drones in recent years, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Most agencies speaking with the Times confirmed they had already shelved many of their DJI drones but some feared the replacements were unsafe. In one case, a Palm Beach County Sheriff said one of the approved devices caught on fire while it was sitting unplugged in an officer\u2019s vehicle. The officer reportedly had to frantically pull over and dump the flaming hunk of hardware off on the side of the road.
\n\u201cOur drone operators do not want to park these drones in their cars, in their garages, in their homes,\u201d Palm Beach County Sheriff Col. Robert Allen said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had one issue with the DJIs since our inception.\u201d
\nOther critics of the ban said it\u2019s both unnecessary and arbitrary since officers can still user other tech like smartwatches and wearables made in China. Even on the eve of the ban\u2019s enforcement, agencies still haven\u2019t shown any proof that DJI drones are transferring sensitive data to China.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s political grandstanding,\u201d James Andrew Lewis, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic & International Studies said in an interview with State Scoop.
\nGrandstanding or not, DeSantis isn\u2019t the only lawmaker interested in restricting China-linked drones. In the final days of the Trump administration, the now-indicted former president placed DJI on the Commerce Department\u2019s \u201centity list,\u201d which prevents the company from buying US products or importing American tech. Not long after, during the Biden Administration\u2019s Treasury Department added DJI to its own blacklist which bars US investors from buying or selling stock in the company. That blacklisting was, in part, due to the Biden administration\u2019s claim DJI products were used to carry out the Chinese government\u2019s surveillance of its persecuted Uighur Muslim minority. The Pentagon made a similar move last year placing DJI on a list of companies it believes have connections to the Chinese military.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve stated unequivocally that we have had nothing to do with treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang,\u201d DJI\u2019s Head of Global Policy Adam Welsh told CNBC in a recent interview. \u201cThe truth is that we\u2019ve gone through numerous audits of our firmware and of our products.\u201d
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This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
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