Crime & Safety

Conservation Police Armed with New Law Enforcement Tool

Thermal imaging cameras will assist officers policing nearby State Parks and Wildlife Areas.

Illinois Conservation Police have a new tool to fight crime.

Grundy County State's Attorney Jason Helland announced recently the purchase of two FLIR LS-series thermal imaging cameras that will be used by Illinois Conservation Police to assist in law enforcement duties in Grundy County's seven State Parks and Wildlife Areas.

Helland said in a news release the cameras give police the power to see clearly in total darkness and can be used for many applications.

As an example, he said the thermal imaging cameras allow police to detect heat signatures from live bodies or vehicles or any other heat source in day and night situations. As a result, Helland said a young child who gets lost in a cornfield may be found quickly or a fleeing felon would not abe able to avoid apprehension under the cover of darkness.

"The thermal imaging cameras will enhance law enforcement's ability to enforce narcotics and all other laws in our beautiful parks, making them a safer place to be," Helland stated in the news release.

He said the cameras were purchased using the State's Attorney's Office's drug assest forfeiture account from money seized in cannabis trafficking.


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