ILEAS

ILEAS – Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System

The Berwyn Police Department is an ILEAS agency.

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.  ILEAS was 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. ILEAS is 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).

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.

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. The Mobile Field Force Teams are also known as Law Enforcement Patrol Strike Teams that can be used to provide large support to local agencies that have significant or long term patrol needs they cannot fill.