<p>New legislation prohibits Arkansas law enforcement agencies from purchasing small, unmanned aircrafts, or drones, from a “covered foreign entity” starting in 2027. According to Act 525 of 2023, a “covered foreign entity” is defined as an “individual, foreign government or a party other than an individual or foreign government on the Consolidated Screening List or entity list as designated by the United States Secretary of Commerce; Domiciled in the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation; under the influence or control by the government of the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation.” Police departments in Arkansas have four years to phase out their use of foreign drones, which is twice the life of a standard drone, depending on its size, said Rep. Brit McKenzie, R-Rogers. However, if an agency believes the life of their drones can extend beyond four years, they can apply for a waiver through the Secretary of Transportation. The bill is targeting Da-Jiang Innovations, or DJI, known as the world’s largest drone manufacturer and headquartered in Shenzhen, China. DJI’s drones account for 70% of the global civilian market, and founder Frank Wang is said to be the world’s first drone billionaire, with a net worth of $3.6 billion. But DJI is "an extraordinarily bad actor,” McKenzie said. “It’s a Chinese military company. We can call it 16 things under the sun, [but] that’s really what it is.”</p>