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Most of the drones used by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and various police departments could be outlawed in the near future under a new state bill outlawing any blacklisted military equipment.
In a statement announcing the bill, State Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) highlighted recent concerns around Da Jiang Innovations, or DJI, a Chinese drone manufacturer that the U.S. Department of Defense blacklisted out of concerns DJI’s hardware is spying for the Chinese military.
“The Department of Defense (DOD) position is that systems produced by Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) pose potential threats to national security,” wrote Department of Defense officials in a public memo in 2021. “Mitigating the threats posed by small (unmanned aircraft systems), including DJI systems, remains a priority across the Department.”
DJI has denied that any of its drones transmit data to the Chinese government, saying the latest efforts to ban their use in the United States are just an effort to suppress foreign investment and benefit domestic drone companies.
There’s also currently a bill in the US House of Representatives that would end the use of DJI’s drones domestically.
[Read: Why Do OC Police Departments Use Drones Blacklisted by Federal Government?]
A Voice of OC review found almost every police department in the county owns at least one of these drones, with the county sheriffs preparing to purchase more over the next year.
In his statement, Umberg recognized that while drones see regular use by law enforcement and are a “critical tool,” law enforcement agencies need to be careful about where they’re buying their tools.
“The fact that the Pentagon has prohibited equipment from a specific company due to fears of spying should raise bright red flags for all consumers,” Umberg wrote.
“This is a very quickly-evolving industry with technology development often moving light years faster than government procurement processes,” he added. “It’s important that California agencies stay up-to-date.”
County supervisors also raised concerns around the drone program at their Tuesday meeting, with Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento highlighting how they might end up buying these drones and then not be allowed to use them.
“This company’s been blacklisted by the federal government for concerns these drones have been used for spying by the Chinese government,” Sarmiento said. “I’d hate for us to approve something that spends taxpayer dollars on something that could be banned tomorrow.”
But supervisors ultimately approved the purchase of more drones, with Supervisor Katrina Foley asking for more details on the county’s drone fleet to be brought before the board in the coming weeks.
Despite concerns around the drones’ safety, Orange County’s police departments have largely said they don’t plan to abandon them unless there’s a change in the law.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Sheriff Commander Brent Jasper, who runs the sheriff’s special operations division, said they felt there was no risk to using these drones.
“There’s an exemption for existing equipment,” Jasper said.
“That doesn’t really address the concern of the risk,” Foley said. “Is the sheriff’s position that there is no risk?”
Jasper’s response was short.
“Yes.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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