DuPage County committee questions tethered drone purchase as residents raise privacy concerns

Chair Evans called the Nov. 4 meeting of the DuPage County Judicial and Public Safety Committee to order and members discussed a proposed purchase of a tethered drone for the sheriff's office.

The most sustained debate of the meeting focused on whether the committee should weigh in on the sheriff's internal drone policy as part of approving the purchase. Member Desart said she initially intended to vote yes but reversed course after receiving constituent emails and public comments: "I saw the drone policy on our agenda, and I was gonna it was gonna be an easy vote for me. I was gonna vote yes until I started receiving the public comment and also emails from folks mostly worried about bridal, using the drones only for law enforcement and, you know, making sure the policy, is you know, maintains the law of deleting everything after 24 hours that's not law enforcement related." Member Yu said she filed a motion to postpone the county-board vote ("not table, to post postpone that vote") so members could review the policy language and learn where it originated, calling for more time to answer constituents' questions.

Member Hoenig raised technical and operational concerns about the policy's breadth and potential capabilities, including a provision she said could allow on-the-go facial recognition updates and give program coordinators broad discretion: "I again, I don't have any inherent issues with the sheriff's department having this tethered drone as regards to emergency responses, rapid responses ... I did have inherently questions of, you know, the security, the the fact that this drone can be updated on on the go with facial recognition and to echo member Yu's point about, you know, people in our community are scared..."

Chair Evans urged members to consult Illinois law and not conflate the equipment purchase with other federal enforcement topics, pointing members to the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act at ilga.gov and noting municipalities such as Naperville have used tethered drones for community events and search-and-rescue. "There are so many laws out there... I hope, everybody can go to ilga.gov and look at the actual laws surrounding the use of these drones," Evans said.

Members on both sides stressed constituent concerns and oversight. Several said asking questions of the sheriff's office is appropriate before county-board action; others emphasized that the committee's immediate vote on the purchase was limited to funding and procurement. Chair Evans confirmed the drone policy will be included with the agenda when the item returns to the county board; the transcript includes no final county-board action on the policy or the purchase.

The committee did not adopt policy language at this meeting. Members asked for additional review and information to address privacy, data-retention and oversight questions before final county-board consideration.