cover
TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Sergeant Andrew Wolcott & Vince Smith, GIS Manager
DATE: 9/24/2018
SUBJECT:
Resolution from the Aurora Police Department and the Aurora Information Technology Department to purchase (4) Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly referred to as drones, and the equipment necessary to operate them for a total amount of $56,417.49.
PURPOSE:
To request authorization from the Aurora City Council to purchase (4) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, and the necessary equipment to operate them.
BACKGROUND:
Officers from the Aurora Police Department respond daily to large variety of calls for service. Modern day policing truly expects that those officers are multifaceted in their handling of those calls and that they handle those calls expeditiously, frequently with less and less resources. Providing officers with additional tools to help them to achieve the expectations placed on them daily would help the department become more efficient.
One way to help resolve some of these issues is to use tools to lessen the amount of officers needed on some of the calls that typically “eat up” manpower, while providing the citizens faster results and at the same time enhancing officer safety. A tool that would give an officer a bird’s-eye view of an incident would not only allow the officer to see the “big picture”, but would greatly increase officer safety. The use of a helicopter or airplane is not necessarily practical because of both the expense of owning one and the availability and timeliness to get one of the few law enforcement helicopters or airplanes that even exist in the Chicago area to respond. Also, many of the incidents that we would need to helicopter or airplane might not qualify for the response of those resources from agencies that provide them.
On the Information Technology side, traditionally the City of Aurora depends on aerial imagery from county government for its aerial mapping. Geographically the City of Aurora has the disadvantage of being in 4 different counties. There is no uniform time frame when we get aerial data for each of the counties and hence our aerial imagery can lag behind by 2 to 3 years. Some of the recent projects listed below have yet to show up in available aerial maps:
1. Downtown two way traffic conversion
2. Residential developments on Far East and West sides.
3. Farnsworth Interchange
4. East High expansion
A tool that appears to be the best option for both departments would be an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) or “Drone”. Drones have become more and more common place among the general public, the business industry and in the public safety industry. If the Aurora Police Department and the Information Technology Department had drones, it would be very beneficial to the city and its citizens.
DISCUSSION:
Rapid advances in technology have led to the development and increased use of unmanned aircraft systems, commonly referred to as drones, throughout the country. An unmanned aircraft system (UAS), sometimes called a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard - instead, the UAS is controlled by a pilot on the ground. Commercial use of UAS or drones has exploded recently. Drones are now extensively used to inspect and monitor infrastructures like cell phone towers, wind turbines, farmland, for aerial mapping and in the public safety field. The FAA has changed the rules over the last two years, making it significantly more practical for commercial, industrial, government and public safety personnel to use drones.
In 2017, the Aurora Police Department responded to 74,459 citizen generated calls for service. As a result, the Aurora Police Department would have many opportunities for the potential use of a UAS (drone). Specifically, a UAS (drone) could have been utilized in many of these incidents to assist with the investigation, free up manpower, enhance officer safety and provide photos or video to document the incident, as well as provide a live feed to a command post.
Those incidents include the following: locating missing persons, hostage situations, barricaded subjects, evidence recovery, water rescues, capturing violent offenders such as shooters or robbery suspects who have escaped, handling burglaries in progress, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. In addition, another frequent use for the drones would be for the execution of drug and weapon search warrants, the Special Operations Group executes approximately 35 of those warrants a year and the Special Response team executes roughly 10 of them a year. Part of the long term plan for the program, would be to utilize the drones for traffic crash mapping and crime scene mapping. The APD Traffic Unit investigates roughly 25 severe or fatal crashes a year. Studies by Northwestern University and the Lake County (Illinois) Major Crash Assistance Team, were done which compare mapping by drone and mapping through the Total Station which is currently used by APD. Three separate crash studies showed that it took roughly 4 hours to capture the crash scene using the Total Station and only about 25 minutes using a UAS (drone). Additionally, the Total Station captured approximately 350 reference points, while the drone captured approximately 35 million. Then afterwards, it took approximately 4 hours to build the crash model and diagrams from the Total Station and only 1.5 hours to build the model and diagram using the UAS (drone).
During the enforcement of their duties, members of the Aurora Police Department on occasion, have the opportunity to legally seize monies that are connected to narcotics related crimes. These funds are then awarded to the department and placed into a State Forfeiture account for permissible uses. As outlined in the “Illinois Asset Seizure and Forfeiture” Manual (page 24), it clearly outlines under “Permissible Use Examples” that the monies can be used “to provide necessary field or office equipment to support a drug task force.”
Research has been done by both departments and it has been determined that the product that best suits the needs of both departments is a product made by a company by the name of DJI. DJI is the world’s leading producer of camera drones and stabilizers. The specific model of UAS that we are requesting be purchased is the DJI Matrice M200, which is an industrialized drone.
The Aurora Information Technology Department and Aurora Police Department, teamed up to bid out for the purchase of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Bid 18-46 was opened on August 28th, 2018 and closed September 12th, 2018. After review and reference checks, staff determined that W.S. Darley Co., Itasca, Illinois was the lowest, responsible bidder, with a bid of $56,417.49.
The monies for this project will be utilized from both Aurora Police Department and Aurora Information Technology Department accounts. The Information Technology accounts will be utilized to pay for one of the DJI Matrice M200 UAS', four of the DJI TB50 batteries, one of the DJI Zenmuse Z30 cameras, one Yaesu FTA-550L FAA Radios, a portion of the service plan, and a portion of the onsite training. Those items, totaling $5,486.03, will be paid out of Information Technology Account. The account being used for the IT purchase is 101-1380-419.61-40 for $5,486.03 with a 2018 budget of $3,000. A budget transfer has been submitted from the account 101-1380-419.64.80 to account 101-1380-419.61-40 in the amount of $5,500 to complete this purchase.
The remaining items, totaling $50,931.46 are for the remaining three Umanned Aircraft Systems for the Aurora Police Department, and the equipment necessary for the Police Department to operate them. The account that is being used for this part of the purchase is 217-3536-421.61-40, which is the Aurora Police Department’s State Assets Forfeiture Seizure fund, for $50,931.46. A budget transfer from account 217-3536-421.39-03 to account 217-3536-421.61-40 has been submitted in the amount of $38,000 to complete this purchase.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
The approval of this purchase is vital to the City and its citizens as missing persons might not be found expeditiously, offenders who flee might not be caught, evidence might not be located and the safety of officers may be in jeopardy. On the Information Technology front, our city has and is currently under taking many projects to improve the quality of life for it’s citizens, and we do a great job in completing them on time, but our aerial imagery often does not show these project areas upon completion and creates operational difficulties with regards to updating the City of Aurora GIS data.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
We are recommending that the City Council authorize the purchase for (4) Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly referred to as drones, and the necessary equipment to operate them, for the Aurora Police Department and the Aurora Information Technology Department. We strongly believe that now is the time for the City to get ahead of the curve in regards to the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Specifically, in enhancing our capabilities in the field of aerial photography and in public safety, bringing UAS technology into our operations. In addition to being able to bring in aerial maps at almost real-time and being able to more quickly and safely address public safety issues, we will also become innovative leaders among neighboring communities.
cc: Finance Committee
Alderman O’Connor, Chairman
Alderman Mervine
Alderman Bugg
Alderman Mesiacos
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution authorizing the purchase of (4) Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly referred to as drones, and the necessary equipment to operate them..
body
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, commonly referred to as drones, has grown exponentially nationwide in the categories of hobbyists, commercial photography, inspections, mapping and public safety; and
WHEREAS, the cost of drones has dropped substantially over the last several years and the licensing through the Federal Aviation Administration has become more accessible to public agencies; and
WHEREAS, during enforcement duties, the Police Department on occasion, has the opportunity to legally seize monies that are connected to narcotics related crimes. These funds are then awarded to the Police department and placed into a State Forfeiture account for permissible uses; and
WHEREAS, it is outlined in the “Illinois Asset Seizure and Forfeiture” Manual (page 24), it clearly outlines under “Permissible Use Examples” that the monies can be used “to provide necessary field or office equipment to support a drug task force”; and
WHEREAS, W.S. Darley Co., Itasca, Illinois is an authorized distributer of the DJI Matrice M200 UAS and through a competitive bid process is the most responsible vendor, and
WHEREAS, the monies for this project will therefore be utilized from the Aurora Information Technology Department's account 101-1380-419.64-80 and from Aurora Police Department's State Forfeiture account, more specifically account 217-3536-421.61-40.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: hereby request authorization from the Aurora City Council to purchase (4) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, and the necessary equipment to operate them.