Baltimore police snub blacklist pressures with DJI drone purchase

The time-tested parental observation advises that one learns more about a situation by heeding what people do rather than what they say. That may also be said of the recent decision by the Baltimore Police Department in establishing its new drone fleet using DJI drones – and in doing so broadly reflecting the frequent response of independent administrations to the largely politicized moves by Congress, US government agencies, and several state legislatures to blacklist the UAV giant’s craft from official use across the nation.

After several months of deliberation, Baltimore police officials were given the green light by the city last week to buy just over $38,152 in drones made by DJI – equipment that politicians across the country have been banning as purported threats of data leaking. The move comes less than a month after the municipality of Grand Rapids, Michigan, cleared the purchase of $100,000 DJI UAVs for law enforcement purposes,…