SPRINGFIELD, IL (Chambana Today) – Champaign County is one of several Illinois regions where state police has expanded their use of highway surveillance cameras under a bill aimed at combating human trafficking and involuntary servitude.
The legislation, House Bill 3339, passed this session, allows the Illinois State Police (ISP) to use automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) to investigate these crimes—adding to a list that already includes terrorism, vehicular hijacking, and murder.
The cameras, which have already been installed in Champaign, Cook, Morgan, and St. Clair counties, are part of the Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act, a statewide effort launched in response to a fatal 2019 expressway shooting. ISP Director Brendan Kelly said the tool has been highly effective, citing a 100% charge rate in expressway homicides in Cook County during 2023, all using ALPR evidence.
The new bill also extends the ALPR program to 2028, adds coverage in Ogle, Lee, and Whiteside counties, and enforces data privacy rules—such as image deletion within 120 days and prohibitions on public access via FOIA.
Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to sign the measure into law.