Illinois Law Enforcement Drone Report

In accordance with the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act [725 ILCS 167], the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is mandated to publish on its publicly available website on July 1 of every year if a law enforcement agency owns one or more drones.

Here are the results, which either shows that Illinois law enforcement agencies are not complying with the new law, or it appears that Illinois is far from being on the cutting edge of utilizing UAS in law enforcement, despite having Google and 1871 as players on its turf. For example, see this YouTube Video showing a Chicago Police Department RC helicopter which clearly seems to fall under the drone reporting requirement

Illinois Drone Report July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014 

Agency Champaign County Sheriff’s Office
Number of Drones 1
Date of Purchase March 19, 2008
Model RP Flight Systems-Spectra Flying Wing
Status Inoperative

Agency Downers Grove Police Department
Number of Drones 1
Date of Purchase June 1, 2014
Model UDI
Status Operative
Notes Used for training purposes

Agency Illinois State Police
Number of Drones 1
Date of Purchase Not reported
Model UDI Model number U818A
Status Operative

Note that these toy drones may soon be replaced with more robust UAS once the officers find they get the hang of it

Antonelli Law UAS Practice Group

Whether it is corporate work, privacy concerns, or you want to get a handle on what the FAA is doing or what your company is allowed to do, you will feel comfortable calling a lawyer at Antonelli Law . Our UAS Practice Group billable rates don’t go higher than $350 per hour for our work and many services are far more affordable than that.

Contact Principal Jeffrey Antonelli for a free consultation at Jeffrey@Antonelli-Law.com or call 312-201-8310 to chat and get to know us. Our passion for leading and learning about UAS is second to none.