U.S. restrictions on Chinese drones are leaving police departments in the lurch

The U.S. government is trying to end the dominance of high-quality, low-cost drones made in China. But more restrictions mean higher costs for cash-strapped police forces that rely on those drones.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/4500x3000!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff6%2F21%2F843ab167478c84d0c6696b4061fc%2Fyee-9504-20260904.jpg' alt='Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Fennessy lifts an Ocean County Sheriff's Office DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone out of the custom-built bed of a department SUV at Robert J. Miller Airpark on Sept. 4.'/><p>The U.S. government is trying to end the dominance of high-quality, low-cost drones made in China. But more restrictions mean higher costs for cash-strapped police forces that rely on those drones.</p><p>(Image credit: Albert Yee for NPR)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5888604' />