Copyright Chicago Tribune
A decade since Orland Park began using drones for police work, Police Chief Eric Rossi is looking to expand the program. “I think this is a great tool that we can add to our tool box and I do foresee, based on funding, getting enough to deploy throughout the entire village,” Rossi said during a presentation of the Orland Park Drones as First Responders program Monday. The six drones in the police department’s arsenal are deployed to improve response times when emergency situations arise, such as missing persons cases and traffic crashes, allowing officers to assess situations from above. “So if we have a robbery in progress at a jewelry store, as soon as dispatch has information, they could hit a button and that drone launches and flies straight to the scene,” Rossi said. The village signed onto a three-year contract with BRINC, a company that provides drones designed to help police officers, starting last month. Orland Park pays $75,000 per year to operate the drones that, due to federal regulations, are able to travel up to two miles and hover 200 feet off the ground. “Ideally, we try to place the drones where you get the most coverage and in the areas that have the most calls for service,” Rossi said. While one drone launches from a pad at the police station, others are mobile and can launch from officers’ squad cars. Rossi said he plans for a quarter of the police force to become trained in drone operation. Under state and federal regulations, the police department is only able to launch drones for under certain conditions, such as when there’s a crime in progress, “so we’re not just launching the drone to monitor people,” Rossi said. Rossi said he first learned of the Drones as First Responders programs out west, and Orland Park is the first village in Cook County to implement its own version. He said he was impressed with BRINC, which was founded in response to a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead. “We’re always trying to be a progressive police department and trying to think about new ideas and how to make the department better and keep the officers safer and the community safer,” Rossi said. Orland Park was one of the first communities in Illinois to implement drone technology in policing in 2015, with police from other jurisdictions enlisting the village’s assistance on multiple occasions. Since then, police use of drone technology has exploded in popularity, with nearby Oak Lawn owning three drones and Tinley Park owning five drones, according to the 2025 Freedom from Drones Surveillance Act report. Orland Park reported using its drones 25 times from April 2024 to March 2025, the report says. ostevens@chicagotribune.com
