Maryland police agencies use drones banned in 4 states over security risk

By Tolly Taylor

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    BEL AIR, Maryland (WBAL) — A national security expert says the drone company that many Baltimore-area law enforcement agencies use may be leaking sensitive data to China.

Some states and federal agencies have banned the use of Chinese-made drones. The drones of one particular company — DJI — are favored by law enforcement agencies across the U.S., including some in Maryland.

While some federal and state leaders said the Chinese-made drones are a security risk, law enforcement officials said the drones are the best ones for keeping people safe and protecting officers.

Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said it’s about what drones can do that helicopters can’t. He said that when he started as sheriff, his office had a helicopter. But once they started looking into drones, they realized all the benefits. For one, it’s not a full-time assignment. Gahler said people can be trained as drone pilots while also serving in other roles.

Then, there’s the ease of using drones, which can be kept in the back of vehicles, and they can get up in the air and flying in a matter of minutes.

Then, of course, Gahler said drones are much cheaper than helicopters.

“Helicopters are very expensive. So, fuel, man hours, the commitment. So, like many agencies, we weren’t able to afford that. But we began looking at drones,” Gahler said.

The Harford County sheriff’s drone program has responded to 101 callouts from May 2021 to the end of the year, 199 calls outs in 2022 and 102 callouts as of June 20.

Gahler then talked specifically about the David Linthicum case in February. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office’s Drone Unit came into play on the night when authorities said Linthicum sped away from law enforcement to eventually hide in a wooded area in Fallston for more than eight hours. The sheriff’s office used the drone’s infrared camera to locate Linthicum by his body heat.

“So, they knew where he was, they knew what he was moving, doing, and they knew what he wasn’t doing — he wasn’t moving a gun around,” Harford County sheriff’s Senior Deputy Michael Wilsinski told the 11 News I-Team.

Wilsinski, the drone unit’s assistant team leader, told the I-Team that knowing that key piece of information that night — that Linthicum did not have a gun — was crucial in capturing him alive.

“There’s no urgency to run into him, you can take your time, you can make it safe, you can make your officers get to him in the safest possible manner without putting their lives at risk,” Wilsinski said.

Without drones, Gahler said the situation might have ended very differently.

“I think, many times, something similar to this, without having that technology, without being able to be eyes on as much as we were, it ends with this individual being shot,” Gahler said.

Linthicum faces more than two dozen charges, including attempted murder of two police officers and armed carjacking. His trial is set for November.

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has eight pilots and 10 drones — all made by DJI. Almost every Maryland police department and sheriff’s office that told the I-Team which drones they use said they use DJI drones.

Four states — Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee — have banned DJI drones because of national security concerns. The U.S. Departments of State, Interior and Defense has also banned DJI drones, which are made in China.

A 2021 executive order said use of foreign-made drones may allow sensitive data transferred out of the country. And, federal lawmakers have warned in hearings and letters of China “stealing our data” using drones.

Even with the bans, experts said DJI dominates more than 70% of the U.S. drone market, and according to the government, there are risks.

Brian Harrell, former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told the I-Team that data from DJI drones in the U.S. is at risk of being stolen by the Chinese government.

“They’re Chinese-manufactured, they’re Chinese-made and we’re seeing a lot of data leave proprietary IT systems and go overseas to a nation-state adversary that doesn’t like the United States,” Harrell said. “This is law-enforcement-sensitive data that we don’t necessarily want in the hands of nefarious, bad actors.”

Harrell shared tips for law enforcement agencies and anyone else using DJI drones.

“If you already own and operate these drones, there are some mitigating measures that you can do to mitigate or reduce the risk — removing the SD card, not connecting to the Internet, these are all safe ways in which to operate Chinese-manufactured drones,” Harrell said.

DJI calls concerns completely unfounded Adam Welsh, the head of global policy for DJI, told the I-Team those concerns are completely unfounded.

“I mean, we’ve had numerous audits — cybersecurity and data security audits — that show no data is going back to China,” Welsh said. “We access data in our U.S. servers, from U.S. employees. They are the ones that have access to it.”

Welsh said DJI’s competitors are weaponizing America’s fears about China without any facts to back it up.

“We have competitors that that are not competing on quality, but trying to compete just on not being Chinese,” Welsh said. “It’s really unfortunate because these products are used to save lives. Those products are used to keep officers safe.”

Welsh categorically states that DJI has never turned over data from a U.S. drone to the Chinese government.

In Harford County, officials said the DJI drones are more reliable, tend to be cheaper and they offer more accessories.

“There are drones that are made here in the United States, but they do not come up, in our opinion, to the level that the DJI drones that we are using come to,” Wilsinski said.

Which Maryland agencies use DJI drones? In addition to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland State Police and law enforcement agencies in Annapolis and Carroll, Cecil, Frederick and Howard counties all have drone programs, and all use DJI drones.

Baltimore County police don’t yet have a drone program, Baltimore City is considering a drone program, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department has a program but refused to identify the manufacturer, citing “operational security reasons.”

When asked for his reaction to the national controversy, Wilsinski told the I-Team: “The DJI product has been very successful for us, and I don’t see us going away from it anytime soon. We’re putting the best product on the street we can to help the citizens of Harford County, and to back up our deputies to make sure they’re safe.”

Harrell called this response from law enforcement typical, saying their view is tactical, but not strategic.

Harrell said there are enough concerns about the company to warrant looking elsewhere.

“We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can invest in American-made drones that do not have data leakage associated with a nation-state adversary like China while also protecting our U.S. citizens. Period,” Harrell said.

There’s currently no legislation in Maryland that would restrict which drone manufacturers can be used by state agencies or law enforcement.

Anne Arundel County Police Department The department uses 19 drones for various purposes, including looking for people in environments not easily or safely accessible or visible to officers; photography of crime scenes and crash scenes; incident command support for active incident and special event situational awareness; and training.

When asked for the manufacturer of the department’s drones, the I-Team received the following statement: “For operational security reasons, we are not disclosing the manufacturer of the equipment.”

The department does not plan to acquire more drones this year.

Annapolis Police Department The department uses two DJI Mavic Pro drones to map crime scene investigations and crash reconstruction efforts.

The department does not plan to acquire more drones this year.

Baltimore City Police Department The department is currently in discussions about possibly using drones in the future.

Baltimore County Police Department Does not currently have a drone program.

Carroll County Sheriff’s Office Among a variety of uses, the sheriff’s office uses four DJI drones for large-scene photography, such as vehicle collision scenes or large-area crime scenes, in addition to providing assistance to patrol deputies and investigators to find missing persons. The sheriff’s office often deploys drones in conjunction with its Crisis Response Team to provide scene and incident information to deputies and maintain an overall scene awareness.

The sheriff’s office plans to acquire one more drone this year.

Cecil County Sheriff’s Office The sheriff’s office uses one DJI Matrice and two DJI Mavic drones in missing persons cases, investigations, emergency response and surveillance.

The sheriff’s office explored acquiring a new drone this year, pending budget approval.

Frederick Police Department The city police department uses four DJI drones for missing persons cases, crash reconstruction, crime scene mapping and photography.

Harford County Sheriff’s Office The sheriff’s office uses 12 DJI Loki MKII drones for search-and-rescue efforts; situational awareness; tactical deployments; visual perspective; visual inspections; scene documentation; overwatch; K-9 deployments; and missing persons cases.

The sheriff’s office plans to acquire several more drones this year as technology advances. The drone unit has submitted a proposal for several additional drones in the fiscal year 2024 budget.

Howard County Police Department The department uses 16 DJI and Ardvark drones primarily for search operations, scene documentation, situational awareness and training support.

The department does not plan to acquire more drones this year.

Maryland State Police The state police use 28 DJI Matrice 200 and AUtel Evo2 drones only to support official law enforcement/public safety missions. Deployments for the following purposes may be authorized by a drone unit supervisor or crash team supervisor: Training missions; digital photography at serious traffic crashes and crime scenes; and search-and-rescue missions.

In full disclosure, WBAL-TV’s parent company uses drones made by DJI for news-gathering purposes, and that practice is now under review.

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