Illinois Law on Police Transparency
Illinois has a law in place that requires full transparency when a police officer is involved in a fatal shooting or other deaths. The law was designed to help the public understand what happens when police officers kill someone and to ensure transparency in the investigation. If there are no charges against the officers involved, investigators are required to release a report that explains the details of the case.
This law was introduced as part of a wider police reform plan in 2015, after the tragic death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The law includes rules on police use of force, body cameras, and more. However, when it comes to releasing these reports, some counties in Illinois, especially in the Metro-East area, are falling short.
Problems in Metro-East Counties
In Madison and St. Clair Counties, local prosecutors have not been fully transparent about police killings. While many large counties in Illinois follow the law by releasing reports, prosecutors in these two counties have kept information from the public. This has raised concerns from experts who believe this is a violation of the law.
According to the law, when an officer is not charged after a death, investigators are supposed to release a report. However, in these two counties, the information was only made available after public records requests. This process often delays access to the facts, and some experts argue that it goes against the spirit of the law, which is meant to be transparent.
Madison County’s Approach
Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Haine has been one of the prosecutors who has not made the findings of police shootings public on his office’s website. Instead, the office only provides reports when requested, which makes it harder for the public to access these important documents. Though the office did release hundreds of pages of findings upon request, the law requires that these documents be publicly available without needing to ask for them.
The Madison County state’s attorney’s office explains that they follow a specific protocol. They ask the Illinois State Police to investigate officer-involved deaths, and once the investigation is done, the state’s attorney’s office reviews it and issues a report to the Illinois State Police. However, the state police then publish their findings on their online dashboard, which often lacks full information about the cases.
St. Clair County’s Approach
St. Clair County has faced similar issues. The state’s attorney’s office initially claimed it had no records of any investigations into police killings or in-custody deaths since 2019. After additional requests, they released some documents, but there are still gaps in the records. This delay in providing public access to findings has been criticized by local residents and experts who argue that it violates the law’s intent to keep the public informed.
In the case of the death of Diwone Wallace, who died in police custody, the state’s attorney’s office initially denied releasing any records. However, after further pressure, they provided a one-page letter clearing the officers involved. The lack of transparency in these cases has led many community members to feel left in the dark.
The Need for Clearer Guidelines
Experts argue that the law is vague, which is why some counties are failing to follow it properly. The law says that the investigators must release a report, but it doesn’t clearly explain what the report should include or when it should be made available. This lack of clarity has created confusion about the role of local prosecutors and law enforcement in making these reports public.
Many experts, including Loren Jones from Impact for Equity, believe that the law’s vague wording allows local prosecutors to interpret it in different ways. This has led to a situation where some counties comply with the law by releasing reports, while others do not.
Calls for Change
Community leaders, like Marie Franklin from East St. Louis, are calling for more transparency. They believe that the public has a right to know what happens in cases of police violence. They argue that the law should be clarified and strengthened to ensure that all police-related deaths are reported in a timely and transparent way.
Without clear guidelines, the current system leaves too much room for interpretation. Local prosecutors may choose when and how to release information, leaving the public with incomplete or delayed access to important facts.
Conclusion
The lack of transparency in some Illinois counties highlights a problem with the current law on police-involved deaths. While the law was created to ensure public access to important information, its vague wording has led to inconsistent implementation. As a result, local prosecutors in the Metro-East counties of Madison and St. Clair have failed to fully comply with the law. To ensure that the public has access to all relevant information, experts believe that the law needs to be updated to clarify what must be released and when.
(Source : newsbreak.com)
