Origins of ILEAS:

The Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) was formed in 2002  in response to the September 11th attacks as a joint venture of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.  We were created to meet the needs of local law enforcement throughout the State of Illinois in matters of mutual aid, emergency response and the combining of resources for public safety and terrorism prevention and response. We are a consortium of over 900 local governments established pursuant to the Constitution of the State of Illinois (Ill. Const. Art. VII, sec. 10), the Illinois Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (5 ILCS 220/1 et seq.), the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/7-101 et seq.) and the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/11-1-2.1).

When the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Police Department commanders learned it was going to be the host for the G20 Economic Summit, they only had four months to prepare.  Pittsburgh commanders called various agencies for advice and assistance - the London Metropolitan Police, Washington D.C. Police, New York City Police and ILEAS.  When the summit took place in September of 2009, ILEAS was the largest single combined team on site with 150 officers from 60 different agencies from Illinois. 

The Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) has come a long way since its post 9/11 birth.  When it was first created, there was no staff, only the beginning of a Governing Board and minimal participation by police and sheriffs.  The laudable efforts of the first few individuals that formed ILEAS, Sheriff Jim Olson, Deputy Chief Pete Smith, Chief Deputy Gary Stryker, Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard, Illinois Terrorism Task Force Chair Mike Chamness and many others resulted in the creation of ILEAS and the first Governing Board formed.  From those early days when only a few agencies were members, ILEAS now boasts a membership of hundreds of agencies law enforcement agencies, representing over 95% of the officers and deputies in Illinois. 

ILEAS' Exceptional Status:

The unique aspect of ILEAS that sets it apart from all other law enforcement groups is its governance and role.  ILEAS represents the interests of local agencies because it consists of and is overseen by local agencies.  The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police as well as 16 elected chiefs and sheriffs dominate the ILEAS Governing Board.  The Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department are also represented. Even though Homeland Security Grant funding is provided by the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, spending and investment priorities are established by ILEAS in the name of and the benefit for local law enforcement. 

From the early days without staff, ILEAS has grown to a mature, well-regarded professional agency unlike any other law enforcement organization in the nation.  ILEAS currently has 25 contractors on staff and has managed over $100 million in grants for local law enforcement in Illinois.  Under ILEAS’ auspices, nine WMD Special Response Teams and seven Mobile Field Force Teams have been created.  In total there are 822 officers from 245 different agencies represented on ILEAS Teams.  ILEAS has invested over $25 million in creating, equipping, training and maintaining these special teams. Given the ILEAS motto of “Strength Through Cooperation” ILEAS required these teams to be multi-jurisdictional.  Many of these teams are now providing service to entire regions of the state where before there was no local support. 

Every year since 2003, ILEAS has offered millions of dollars of equipment grants to local agencies.  In the past, ILEAS has provided funds for physical security, training, HAZMAT equipment, radios and mobile data computers (MDC’s).  In fact, over the last 4 years, ILEAS has provided over a 1,000 radios and 1,000 MDC’s to local law enforcement.  Additionally, 13 mobile command posts, nine armored vehicles and a host of other specialty vehicles have been provided at no cost to various agencies in Illinois.  Agencies receiving this equipment must agree to maintain it and provide it during large state or regional emergencies if necessary. 

ILEAS Administration:

ILEAS consists of a Governing Board of 21 Sheriffs/Police Chiefs, the Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department. The Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police are elected by members in eight regions of Illinois. The Governing Board meets quarterly and conducts one general membership annual meeting. The elected Officers of the Governing Board comprise the Executive Committee which oversees the day to day operations of ILEAS. We are managed by an Executive Director and over 20 independant contractors that administer various projects.

ILEAS Funding:

ILEAS is primarily funded by Federal State Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program Grants. ILEAS has processed over $90 million in federal Homeland Security Funds since 2003. All the homeland security funding and planning for the State of Illinois local law enforcement outside Chicago is managed by ILEAS. Through priorities established by the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (residing at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency – IEMA) and the ILEAS Governing Board, ILEAS establishes and implements, planning, training and equipment purchasing/distribution for all local law enforcement outside of the City of Chicago. ILEAS has, in the past, received some minor State of Illinois funding. ILEAS was noted as being a Best Practices agency in a recent federal Department of Homeland Security Program audit.

Mutual Aid Goals:

ILEAS, headquartered in Urbana, Illinois, operates the largest statewide local law enforcement mutual aid network in the United States. Agencies that have been struck by a disaster can call ILEAS which will then coordinate statewide mutual aid response as needed. Every member agency of ILEAS has signed an identical mutual aid agreement. Additionally, ILEAS is the agency that the IEMA relies on to organize large mutual aid responses of local law enforcement – both intra- and inter-state. Responding to a request of the Governor, ILEAS deployed 300 local officers to the Hurricanes Katrina/Rita disasters in Louisiana. ILEAS has also sent officers in August of 2008 to St. Paul, Minnesota for the Republican National Convention and in September of 2009 to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the G20 summit.

Training Center:

In June of 2008, ILEAS opened and now manages a homeland security training center in Urbana. Thousands of public safety officials have attended advanced federal and state training courses at the ILEAS Training Center.

Equipment Purchased:

As of December 2009, ILEAS has purchased millions of dollars of homeland security equipment and transferred this equipment to local law enforcement agencies. This includes, but is not limited to:

• 24,000 APR respirators
• $15 million of SWAT equipment
• Large specialty vehicles such as armored transport/response vehicles and mobile command posts.
• 1,000 mobile digital computers (laptops for squad cars)
• 1,000 interoperable public safety radios
• 6,000 radiation detectors

Additionally, ILEAS maintains a contingency equipment caches. This equipment includes N95 biological masks, SWAT team supplies, etc.

ILEAS Special Teams:

ILEAS equips and oversees several multi-jurisdictional regional special teams throughout the State of Illinois. There are two main teams – WMD Special Response Teams (WMD SRT) and Mobile Field Force teams. The WMD SRT teams are locally-employed SWAT teams that are specially trained and funded by ILEAS to deal with the human threat in a hazardous materials environment. They often also act as regional tactical assets for local agencies. The Mobile Field Force teams are multi-jurisdictional teams of locally-employed officers equipped and trained to deal with civil disorder and provide large support to local agencies that have large issues and need 50+ officers at any one time.

Grant Management:

Grant management has become a significant function of ILEAS.  ILEAS receives homeland security sub-grants from IEMA. ILEAS then re-grants those funds to local agencies or does the purchasing and spending outright, sup plying the local agencies with the services and equipment free of charge. As such, ILEAS has developed a robust online grant management system that all local law enforcement agencies in Illinois may participate. Every chief and sheriff in the state has passwords to the ILEAS secured web page. They can conduct required equipment inventories, apply for grants and search law enforcement resources among other agencies. Additionally, ILEAS has been instrumental in the implementation of the StarCom21 statewide voice radio system. ILEAS also partners with the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) – the statewide fire mutual aid system. As previously mentioned, ILEAS also manages the homeland security grants for the Illinois Emergency Services Management Agency (IESMA). IESMA represents the local EMA and ESDA managers in Illinois.

Statewide Representation:

ILEAS is also represented at the State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield during statewide emergencies. ILEAS is often called upon by the State of Illinois to represent local law enforcement agencies when large operational planning needs to be conducted. ILEAS is submitting this report based on the request the Illinois State Police (ISP) to partner with them on the planning for the Thomson project.