If you look to the skies and see a small, UFO-like, hovering object following you around the city, you might be the subject of a criminal investigation. For at least the next two years, the Illinois State Police (ISP) has federal permission to use “unmanned aircraft” (better known as “drones”) to conduct police work. The ISP announced on May 8 that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized a two-year plan known as the Unmanned Aircraft System program, which will allow the ISP to use drones for law enforcement purposes. While the ISP has conspicuously avoided using the term “drone” to describe the program, it permits the use of the hovering aircraft in certain statutorily-permitted circumstances.

The ISP said in a statement that “[t]he ability to obtain accurate measurements and clear images from aerial photographs will significantly reduce the amount of time highways are closed during the initial investigation of major traffic crashes,” but the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act (725 ILCS 167/1, et al.), passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2013 allows much broader use of drones in police investigations. Specifically, law enforcement can use drones in the following situations:

1. “To counter a high risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization” if the Department of Homeland Security indicates that a risk exists;

2. If a warrant based on probable cause is obtained from a judge;

3. If there is reasonable suspicion that “swift action is needed to prevent imminent harm to life, or to forestall the imminent escape of a suspect of the destruction of evidence”;

4. To locate a missing person if there is not an ongoing criminal investigation;

5. To photograph crime scenes and traffic accidents that occur on public land, or with a search warrant if they occur on private land; and,

6. During “a disaster or public health emergency.”

The use of drones in police investigations is sure to be a highly-litigated area of search and seizure law and privacy law in the decades to come, but this Unmanned Aircraft System program seems to be the first step toward their widespread use in Illinois. We here at the Law Offices of Laura J. Morask continue to follow updates in these areas of law, so if you should find yourself under investigation or under arrest in a situation that involves the use of a drone, or any other investigative tool, do not hesitate to call us.