Florida’s Chinese Drone Ban Creates Challenges For Local Fire And Police Departments

Florida banned state and local government entities from using Chinese drones, grounding numerous police and fire drones in South Florida and risking the lives of first responders and Floridians.

As a result, agencies are scrambling to find hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace their grounded drones with those from the state’s new “approved” list.

The ban on drones from “foreign countries of concern,” including China, was implemented by Governor Ron DeSantis and took effect last Wednesday.

State government officials have voiced concerns that China could access DJI drone footage or data to spy on Americans.

However, China is the home of drone industry leader DJI, which holds a 90-95% global market share in the small drone category, according to Christopher Todd, founder and president of Airborne Response. Todd’s company trains first responders on drone usage.

Todd revealed that over 92% of Florida agencies have DJI drones in their fleet….