Chicago Police Department Looking to Expand Drone Fleet
Last year the Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) purchased its first five drones and hired three pilots, but the CPD is trying to find the funding to purchase more, saying that drones are, “the future of policing.” CPD Sgt. Marcus Buenrostro went as far as saying he would like to see each district police station have a “pod or hive” for drones installed on their respective roofs in the future to enable faster and safer responses to criminal activity. With the police department facing short staffing, difficulty in recruiting, and long response times, he and other advocates believe that the drones could be used to fill the gap that has emerged in the city’s police resources and the public’s needs. Speaking at a meeting with Chicago alderpersons, Buenrostro proposed that drones could, “automatically deploy to [911] calls in under two minutes,” and provide officers with “knowledge of what they’re walking into” and what resources would best assist the event in progress. However, critics like the ACLU of Illinois are urging caution, saying “Drones have an enormous capacity to surveil people without their knowledge — to look into buildings, into cars, into apartments — and we ought to move very slowly with that kind of surveillance technology without having in place the appropriate privacy regulations to guard against peoples’ rights being violated.” While many of the alderpersons seemed enthusiastic at the idea of expanding drone use in the city by law enforcement, it remains to be seen where the funding would come from and what limitations would be put in place to protect individuals’ privacy.
New Illinois Law Expands Police Use of Drones
Just last year, Illinois signed the Drones as First Responders Act into law, which allowed law enforcement agencies to fly drones over public events, inspect buildings, and respond to 911 calls in the interest of public safety. The bill was passed in response to the Fourth of July Highland Park shooting, which state senator Julie Morrison argued could have been prevented if police could have surveilled the scene in real time with a drone overhead. Until the law was passed, it was illegal for anyone, law enforcement or private individuals, to fly a drone over a public event and “gather information” unless there was a known imminent threat. While the new law gives the police another tool for safety, there are still limits to when and where law enforcement can use the drone and anyone who believes they are subject to criminal charges as a result of law enforcement utilizing a drone should contact an experienced criminal attorney who can review the legality of the surveillance.
