By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Police are in communication with federal law enforcement in the aftermath of the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history Oct. 1, which left more than 50 people dead and hundreds wounded at a concert in Las Vegas.

Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz said Illinois law enforcement is ready to help.

“Whenever there’s an event like this somewhere, or anywhere for that matter, we talk with our federal partners and see if there’s any nexus,” Schmitz said. “I can’t get into too much into investigations, but we always see what the link would be to Illinois.”

Schmitz said Illinois was in constant contact with federal officials after this summer’s shooting in the Washington, D.C., area targeting members of Congress – especially given that the assailant in that attack was from Belleville, Illinois.

“If there’s any follow-ups, like there was in Washington, D.C., we assist our federal partners with that,” Schmitz said. “But this is still unfolding.”

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office said it has not yet been notified of any Illinois residents who were victims of the attack or connected to the attack.

Chairman of security technologies company Ibis 2, Stan Kephart, said even with a world-class organization such as the Clark County, Nevada, sheriff’s office, these types of attacks are difficult to prevent – especially when the attacker is shooting from the 32nd floor of a hotel across the street from the venue.

“With the density of the crowd it’s not surprising you’d have this kind of death toll and injury inflicted on the patrons,” Kephart said.

More than 50 people were killed, and hundreds were wounded Oct. 1 in Las Vegas, which amounts to the largest death toll from a mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Still, Kephart said using technology can help screen people at large events to attempt to prevent similar attacks.

He said facial and license plate scans that his company offers deployed in private venues such as concerts or hotels can be cross-referenced with law enforcement databases to help screen people attending large events. And while Kephart said he’s hypersensitive about individual rights and they “need to be respected … they cannot be respected when they’re compromising public safety in the way it’s currently compromised.”

Kephart said attending a concert or staying in a hotel is a contractual agreement under which participants waive some of their rights. It even appears in the fine print on tickets for certain entertainment events.

Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director James Joseph said members of law enforcement from around the state work closely with the Department of Homeland Security on threat assessments when necessary.

One high-risk area in Illinois that often sees large crowds in a small area is the Capitol Building. Security infrastructure and procedures there were revamped following a shooting in September 2004, when an unarmed security officer was shot and killed. Command Sergeant Michael Geier said there was really no motive behind it.

“It was just a random shooting that happened,” Geier said. “That’s why the Capitol Police was formed.”

That unit, which is operated through the Secretary of State’s office, touts their preventative strategy when managing large and potentially dangerous events.

“When we do have protests we do our intelligence gathering before hand,” Geier said. “We do take proactive measures. We do reach out to leaders of the protest groups.”

Geier said they never focus on the group’s message, but rather on individual behavior that may be disruptive or dangerous to themselves or others.