AURORA, IL — Police may be able to use more drones for public safety thanks to a new Illinois House of Representatives bill spearheaded by Aurora legislators.
State Sen. Linda Holmes and Rep. Barbara Hernandez, both Democrats, are the chief sponsors of the “Drones as First Responders” bill, also known as House Bill 3902, that would allow police to proactively use drones to monitor large special events, including parades and festivals, and surveil scenes during an emergency.
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Under the bill, which amends the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act, law enforcement agencies would be permitted to use facial recognition software in conjunction with drone flights if police have reasonable suspicion that “swift action is needed to prevent imminent harm to life or to forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or the destruction of evidence, or if the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has determined there is credible intelligence of a high risk of a terrorist attack.
The bill also increases reporting requirements for law enforcement’s use of drones. Whereas police previously only had to report the number of drones they used, the bill includes more detailed requirements about what information must be disclosed about drone usage, including the time, date, location, reason for use and whether video was recorded.
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Agencies would need to publicly post their drone program policy, and some records of drone usage could be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.
House Bill 3902 passed the House by 84-7 and the Senate by 56-1. Pritzker is expected to sign the bill in time for large events this summer, according to Aurora officials.
State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest), who was a chief cosponsor of the bill, suggested the law could have changed the outcome of the 2022 Highland Park parade shooting, Patch reported.
Echoing Morrison’s sentiments, Holmes said it could “spare another community” from having to experience another shooting like the 2019 workplace mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora.
After the shooting that left five employees and the gunman dead, Aurora Police Department’s drone team reviewed how other states use drones to support law enforcement. Although Aurora police do use drones, at the time of the shooting, state law did not allow using drones to identify public safety threats, addressing privacy, surveillance and data concerns, city officials said.
Aurora Police Lieutenant Andrew Wolcott, a licensed drone pilot, drone trainer, and special events lead, said the current limitations on drones prevent police from keeping communities “as safe as we can.”
“Events across our country have been subject to mass shootings as seen within our state, vehicle attacks, and hundreds of people being trampled or killed due to overcrowding,” he said in a statement. “Using drones can give a real-time picture of what is happening at an event and bring attention to pedestrian flow traffic issues, allowing law enforcement to respond in a proactive rather than reactive manner.”
In 2021, members of the drone team approached Mayor Richard Irvin about proposing changes. A year later, Homes filed a bill after working with other police departments in the area, as well as state’s attorney’s offices, Illinois chiefs of police and the American Civil Liberties Union.
“This measure gives police and other first responders critical information in a chaotic situation where lives are at stake,” Holmes said in a statement. “This capability could spare another community the suffering and trauma we experienced here.”
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