DuPage County Board approves drone purchase

In anticipation of the 2026 Presidents Cup golf tournament, DuPage County Board members have signed off on buying a tethered drone for the sheriff’s office.

Board members recently approved the $68,000 purchase of the drone. Sheriff’s deputies will use the drone at large public events such as the Presidents Cup or the Highland Games. It will also assist in situations like crime scene or traffic crash investigations, missing person searches, building inspections, and other investigative scenarios, including terrorist threats, according to the sheriff’s drone usage policy.

The purchase drew objections from several residents who raised questions of privacy and unlawful searches.

The drone, which takes two people to launch, is tethered to its power source and cannot fly around, officials said. It remains about 50 feet in the air.

“It’s very restrictive to what you can do with the drone,” said DuPage County Board member Lucy Chang Evans, who heads the board’s judicial and public safety committee. “Once it’s up in the air it can’t go anywhere.”

Evans and other board members noted the sheriff’s department must still comply with the state’s Trust Act, which would prohibit them from using the drone to aid federal agents in immigration enforcement activities.

Despite assurances on how the drone can be used, some board members expressed concern.

Board member Melissa Martinez, whose district includes West Chicago, pointed to one approved use — in the event of credible terrorist threats — as troubling in the wake of immigration enforcement efforts across the Chicagoland area.

“That would negate everything — everything — that’s in the policy, just by them saying it’s a risk,” said Martinez, who was one of three board members who voted against the drone purchase.

DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy said while she understood concerns, she also pointed to the various times she’s been alerted to threats to public safety and how a drone could help prevent or respond to such incidents.

“While Homeland Security and ICE have been terrorizing our streets and our families, there is good work being done to keep us safe from many, many things I never wanted to know,” Conroy said.

She added that the drone would be quite noticeable when in use.

“It’s not going to be doing anything nefarious, but it could save a life … we can’t let the horrible prevent us from doing something good,” she said.