New anti-DJI rules could ground public-safety drone programs, IWCE speakers say: Public-safety aerial drone initiatives provide an ever-growing level of situational awareness to first responders, but many of these programs could be undermined by rules designed to ban the use of drones from China-based DJI because of national-security concerns, according to panelists speaking at IWCE 2022.

Tony Loperfido, a sergeant with the technical operations unit of the Miami Beach Police Department, said that the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) has directed public-safety agencies to only buy drones from five American manufacturers—not from DJI, which dominates the U.S. drone market today.