Alabama commission weighs security concerns, law enforcement needs around drones

An Alabama commission charged with regulating drones Tuesday weighed security concerns around drones manufactured in China with law enforcement insistence that no domestic manufacturer makes comparable ones.

“I think we need to be measured in what we are doing to where we don’t shut down what is now a vital part of our operations in law enforcement,” said Rep. James Lomax, R-Huntsville, who chairs the Alabama Unmanned Aircraft System Study Commission, in an interview following the meeting.

Lomax said that the policies must allow law enforcement to continue to operate but also protect individual privacy and following federal rules and regulations.

“We got a bunch of experts here, but I think we are going to be looking for ways to air-gap this technology to make sure they are on closed networks and operate it in a standard way across the state,” Lomax said.

Joey Hamilton, a special agent with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency who oversees its drone unit, said ALEA uses drones to help with investigations into crime scenes and traffic collisions.

ALEA also uses drones for storm damage assessments, pre-raid planning and hostage negotiation. A significant portion of the agency’s fleet consists of drones made by Da-Jiang Innovations, a company based in Shenzhen, China.

Companies in China have cornered about 92% of the state and local first-responder market, according to the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, a trade association for the industry.

Hamilton said competitors have not caught up with the quality of those drones.

“We tested a bunch of them, and I am sorry, they fall short,” Hamilton said. “I would like nothing more than to have a 100% American-made drone unit. But when it comes to something that costs 10 times what we use now, that will not do the job in any shape, form or fashion, it is such a huge difference.”

Several on the committee expressed concerns with security and expressed concerns that the foreign country could infiltrate ALEA’s systems through its operating system.

Hamilton said he is not concerned that the agency is using drones made in another country.

“We have taken every precaution,” he said. “You have to do firmware updates with DJI, but ALEA’s network is so heavily firewalled, I don’t think there is anything crazy that would come through there without our system catching it first.”

In the past couple of years, legislators have filed bills to restrict the purchase of drones made by foreign companies, especially from China.

In 2024, SB 241, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, required ALEA to maintain a list of approved, unmanned aircraft systems for the state.