Chicago Suburb Launches First Responders Drone Program
As we have previously covered, law enforcement agencies across the state of Illinois were given the ability to expand their use of drones in their day-to-day activities last year under a new law. Now, Oak Brook, a western Chicago suburb, has decided to embrace the technology, recently announcing the launch of a new drone program that will deploy a drone in response to any 911 call when its operators feel it is appropriate. The first of its kind program in Illinois will deploy drones from the roof of the police station with the ability to travel up to 50 miles per hour at an elevation of 400 feet. Oak Brook Police Chief Brian Strockis said the drones will be a “game changer for us” but stressed that the drones, “don’t replace police officers, but they will be able to enhance our response, improve our response time” as well as providing safety for officers. For the types of crimes that will use drones, Strockis emphasized that, “We’re going to designate burglaries in progress, retail thefts in progress, burglar alarms. Obviously any crime against a person, the drone will be assigned to” which could help police gather vital evidence in real time. Oak Brook police are utilizing the drone technology from Flock Safety, which already has drone first responder programs in police departments in Arizona, California and Georgia. While law enforcement agencies are generally supportive of drone programs such as this, other privacy advocates worry about their potential for abuse or the invasion of personal privacy. Outlining the slow expansion of permissible uses in the State of Illinois for drones by law enforcement over time, ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said in an email, “Our concern is that drone use by police could expand further – allowing for massive sorts of surveillance (think about being able to follow a car) and that the tool would be abused.” It will be interesting to see if other communities follow suit and expand their use of drones in the future and what impact that may have on court cases that will inevitably challenge the use of said technology in specific instances.
Denver Rejects Automatic License Plates Reader Contract
After a public outcry highlighting concerns over privacy concerns in regards to mass surveillance technology and its potential use targeting illegal immigrants, the Denver City Counsel unanimously rejected a contract extension that would have added two years at a cost of $666,000 for automated license plate readers, or ALPRs for the city. After the mayor of Denver prioritized resources to such technology in an effort to combat serious crimes such as auto theft and to provide investigative leads for officers, the city, through Flock Group Inc, installed over 100 solar-powered ALPR cameras positioned at 70 locations in the city. In the last 30 days alone, over 2 million vehicles were photographed, with 82,052 matching a “hotlist” entered into the system according to a portal set up for transparency. “While this tool is helpful for the Denver police to investigate kidnappings, stolen cars and other crimes, it is not worth the huge risk for immigrants – and the rest of us – living in Denver,” said Roxanne Rhodes, a retired Denver Public Schools teacher. Councilmember Sarah Parady said that, “unless we think governments and large tech companies are 100% trustworthy all the time, mass surveillance is very concerning” in voicing her disapproval of the program. While Denver rejected the technology, many other communities are embracing these investigation tools and their potential to help assist fighting crime. With the emergence of AI and other tools that can help analyze these large amounts of surveillance quickly, the ability for police departments to engage in mass surveillance will most likely only grow over time.
