Updated: 16 minutes agoSalt Lake Police Department Sgt. Josh Ashdown demonstrates one of the drones used in the department’s drone program outside the Salt Lake Public Safety building in Salt Lake City. The SLPD has an extensive program that uses drones in many support capacities.
“Most of our focus is DOD ,” said Matus, now 26. “Since the invasion of Ukraine, it has become very clear that drones are incredibly impactful to war.” But the drone-based consumer lifestyle never materialized. Sorting out the licenses to fly the devices was complicated and varied by state. The technology was still not reliable enough. There was also a reflexive ick-factor from the public over the idea of eagle-eyed drones flying over their homes all the time.
“That was the trough of disillusionment,” Matus recalled. “Most companies were going out of business. And Teal was also very close to the brink.” Matus’s team is now up to nearly 100 people, the most ever. That’s still a far cry from DJI’s 14,000 employees, who operate automated assembly lines in China, with rows of robot arms churning out some 70% of the world’s drones.
“Now I’m like a complete hobbyist,” said Childs. “I have drones at home that I always use … it’s practically a supercomputer that’s flying around in the air. I mean, it’s got nine different processors.” Kyle Nordfors, drone search-and-rescue coordinator for Weber County, just north of Salt Lake City, said that while he hoped to see U.S. drone brands become more competitive, DJI’s are still the best. He said DJI’s better functionality makes the difference between life or death when his team is searching for hikers lost on snowy slopes.
Josh Ashdown, a sergeant with the Salt Lake City Police Department overseeing its drone program, says his team has a fleet of 17 drones from four brands - China-based DJI and Autel, and the U.S. brands Skydio and Brinc. The state of Florida adopted a ban on police using China-made drones last year. There are no such restrictions in other states.
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