Montgomery Village Board tables vote on resolution backing state law to lift some restrictions on police use of drones

MONTGOMERY – For a brief moment, Montgomery Village Board members appeared poised during a March 13 meeting to adopt a resolution in support of legislation now pending in the Illinois General Assembly that would lift some restrictions on village police and other law enforcement agencies when deploying drones.

But after a brief discussion, board members agreed to Village President Matt Brolley’s suggestion to delay their vote pending further, clarifying information on the legislation from the Illinois Municipal League and the Metro West Council of Governments.

Village Administrator Jeff Zoephel told the board that SB107, known as the Drones as First Responders Act, would update a 2014 state law that regulates the use of drones by law enforcement.

Zoephel said the bill is the product of a collaboration among state lawmakers, law enforcement, municipalities and privacy advocates “that modernizes the regulations” contained in the 9-year-old law.

The proposed resolution, Zoephel said, is intended to show the village’s support for the legislation and for expanding the use of drones by law enforcement.

When questioned by board members, Village Police Chief Phil Smith said village police currently use drones for search and rescue incidents and traffic crash reconstructions.

Smith, however, said the current law contains “several restrictions” for law enforcement when it comes to using drones, including a provision that prohibits police from flying drones over public events such as parade routes and festivals.

“Currently, we do not do that. We do not fly over our fest grounds. These are things that someone else can do with a drone, but law enforcement cannot. All we are asking for is the ability to do surveillance and precursory checks of, say, our fest grounds or the [Montgomery Fest] parade route or other events that go on in the village,” Smith said.

“These are things that someone else can do with a drone, but law enforcement cannot. All we are asking for is the ability to do surveillance and precursory checks of, say, our fest grounds or the (Montgomery Fest) parade route or other events that go on in the village,”

—  Montgomery Police Chief Phil Smith

Smith said police are asking state lawmakers to give them the ability to conduct pre-surveillance of special events.

When questioned by board member Theresa Sperling, Smith asid the mass shooting at last year’s Fourth of July parade in north suburban Highland Park has been a consideration for law enforcement in seeking the ability to operate drones before and during community events.

Board member Matt Bauman said he supports allowing police to complete pre-surveillance checks of community events, but also noted that police using drones raises the specter of “Big Brother is always watching.”

Bauman emphasized that he wants to make certain police have all the tools necessary to do their job and do it well, while making sure that citizen privacy is protected as much as the law will allow.

“I’m not trying to infringe on your department in doing the quality work that you do,” Bauman told Smith.