The Normal Police Department has made technology one of its top priorities in 2026. That includes a new video drone that officers can bring to crime and crash scenes.
“The type of drone that we’re looking at, it would only require one drone at this given time, and I kind of look at it as a pilot,” Police Chief Steve Petrilli said in an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas. “We’ve seen it play out in other jurisdictions, other municipalities, even here within Illinois. It seems to be a value add.”
Petrilli said the department will start using the drone this summer and will wait to see the return on investment before seeking out another drone.
“For instance, like if we had a traffic accident at Veterans and College, sometimes that’s tough depending upon where resources are at to get there quickly, just based with traffic. A lot of times with these drones, the way that they’re positioned, they can be on essentially anywhere in town within a minute,” he said.
Another possible scenario would be an active shooting situation or active burglary.
“Something like that, having the ability to get a drone on scene, not only are you collecting some of that video evidence, but you’re also setting up what are the routes the first responders should take, and it plays into the tactics for how we respond to different calls for service,” Petrilli said.
NPD received a grant for additional automatic license plate reader [ALPR] cameras to combat retail theft. Now, the department has 58 in total, according to the town’s data portal.
Petrilli said the cameras have proven successful for investigations by the department. Petrilli said they have often assisted officers in solving crimes.
“A lot of the times it’s reactionary, right? We’re getting alerts, maybe on a hot-listed vehicle that could be a vehicle that was a stolen, a vehicle that was used in a crime that officers are getting information on that vehicle,” said Petrilli.
According to the portal, cameras has been used to find more than 31,000 hot list hits in the last 30 days.
Petrilli said NPD is looking to expand use of the cameras into additional business areas on top of the gaps they already identified to place the current ones. The grant money was used to place cameras on the east side of Normal in retail areas.
NPD does not plan to enlist use of the cameras in residential areas.
“Most, if not all of our cameras are on major thoroughfares. At this point, there’s really no strategic plan to be moving into residential areas with cameras,” he said.
Petrilli confirmed the cameras are not a tool for immigration enforcement, surveillance or facial recognition. Their only use is to locate vehicles suspected of being party to a crime.
In the town’s agreement with Axon, approved in October, NPD also has access to a new records management system.
Staffing
Petrilli said NPD is close to full staff with just over 90 sworn officers.
“We’ve got two vacancies, but we’ve lined up three officers to go to the academy in May, so we’re sitting in a good spot right now, right where we should be,” Petrilli said.
The department has yet to reach its goal of having a police force that is 30% female. Petrilli said they are still striving for the department to better reflect the community.
“We try to move towards that goal with every recruiting process that we engage in,” he said. “I will say, our numbers are good, but our recruiting—the amount of folks that we get to apply—is definitely not where we want it.”
Petrilli said the department is always looking for qualified recruits for “a great town to police. But in an application cycle with 60 applications, only 12 moved forward from the testing and background.
“I don’t think we’re in a business that allows the lowering of standards, so in my tenure, I don’t see that happening,” he said. “We have a battery of tests that we put people through.”
Petrilli said those involve psychological, polygraph and physical tests along with medical screenings. He said recent changes have also gone into effect from the Massey Act. The law strengthened regulations around hiring in policing after a Sangamon County sheriff's deputy with a history of misconduct fatally shot Sonya Massey in her home during a 2024 service call.
Training and leadership
NPD will look for lateral candidates to add to their staff as well (experienced officers from outside departments). Petrilli said those officers also help fill gaps in training the current staff.
“We have a very young staff, so when we’re able to pick up lateral officers that come to us with experience, we can use that experience to help bring some more time and rank to the different shifts,” he said.
The actual training programs have increased tenfold, said Petrilli. The field training program expanded from 16 to 20 weeks and the police academy from 14 to 16 weeks.
“And then from there, we’ve got a long probation area period where we’re evaluating officers,” he said. “But experience and then the lack of experience, I think training is the next best thing that you can do. So, we invest a lot in recruiting successful lateral transfer candidates, but also for our new officers.
"We train, we train, we train,” he said.
FBI
Petrilli himself is undertaking new training and leadership practice as the president of the FBI National Alumni Association for the Illinois chapter. He described it as an intensive 11-week leadership program.
“Basically, only the top 1-2% of law enforcement professionals throughout the country get selected. So it’s, number one, hard to get in, but I went to the FBI National Academy back in 2016,” he said.
Petrilli said networking opportunities are plentiful, allowing senior law enforcement to seek each other out on policies, procedures and practices.
“It’s a great reference point for that while you’re at the FBI Academy, you receive intensive training on different subjects, from it could be media relations, it could be use of force, it could be criminal law,” said Petrilli.
