The Town of Normal on Monday approved the $50,000 purchase of a Flock Drone as First Responder System [DFR].
The motion, approved during the town council's meeting, added one Flock drone to the Normal Police Department under a pilot year. The NPD already has six drones in use, none of which come from Flock. Police Chief Steve Petrilli said the move will allow for mapping that could lead to an additional drone being added later.
Petrilli said the half-dozen drones already in service require an operator to have the drone in sight. A Flock drone has a detailed map of the city that allows it to move without being seen by an officer.
“The point of the DFR is, get there, get there fast, and see things right,” said Petrilli.
Petrilli presented information on the Flock drone alongside detective Jon Cleveland, who would be able to operate as the remote pilot in charge.
“Making that decision as the call’s coming in, ‘Hey, is this call applicable? Is this something that we want to deploy a drone on?’ So we're no longer having to wait for a dispatcher to take the information, get it entered into a computer, and then actually dispatching officers over the radio,” said Petrilli.
He added in municipalities that already use the Flock drone, it reaches the scene before an officer does about 75% of the time. He predicted in Normal’s case, the done may be the first to the scene about 70% of the time.
This method will allow for quicker response times in an emergency, Petrilli said, adding the Flock drone also will be used for fire and disaster operations.
He said the drone will be useful for active scenes, like burglaries, but would not be used for less urgent matters, like a stolen bike with no suspect.
Checks and balances
Flock Safety caught on for police departments nationwide in recent years for use for AI-assisted license plate reader technologies. Flock provides technology to Bloomington, Normal and county law enforcement. Concerns about the scope of data shared, and about with whom it was being shared caused some municipalities to reverse course earlier this year.
Petrilli said the privacy of citizens is “at the forefront.”
“There are transparency portals built into this, where the community is going to be able to see, you know, the flight paths of the drones, the type of calls that they're going on,” he said.
Links to those transparency needs will be placed on the police department website. Addresses and identifiers on video, like names, will be redacted — similar to how the town’s crime log is entered daily. Absent a criminal proceeding, all data will be retained for up to 30 days before deletion.
All deployments will be governed by police department policy and subject to state and federal law, including the Drones as First Responders Act and Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act.
The drone will have a maximum altitude of 200 feet, avoiding interference with air traffic.
Zoning ordinances
Also Monday, the town council approved action items related to a number of zoning and rezoning items, including development of the Infiniti Pointe Subdivision. The move will allow 60 total multifamily units to be built in west Normal.
The developer made a number of adjustments based on neighborhood concerns from those in single-family units nearby. Those included tree plantings and elimination of a vehicular connection to the existing neighborhood to the north.
BESS
The council also approved regulation of Battery Energy Storage Systems [BESS] that adds to already-approved state and county regulations.
The ordinance outlines that BESS must stick to certain areas, lighting and height requirements, noise levels, distance from yards and fire compliance standards.
Normal is the first to enact such laws among other nearby municipalities such as Peoria, Decatur, Champaign and Urbana.
Other action
The council approved a $322,822 project with George Gildner Inc. for a surface lot expansion project at the west College Avenue parking deck.
The project will provide an additional 31 parking spaces to the ground level and include sidewalk and pavement removal, concrete pouring, sidewalk ADA-compliant ramps, pavement striping and other needs.
The completion date was set for October 15.
And, council members approved a resolution in support of the Illinois America250 commemoration. It expresses support for efforts across Illinois to recognize the anniversary on July 4.
Kathleen Lorenz and Kevin McCarthy were both absent from Monday’s meeting.
