While Illinois law enforcement agencies will soon be required to ask for, and provide, entire employment records for any applicants seeking to become a police officer, the Massey Commission is seeking to continue its work in order to actualize its upcoming recommendations.
The law was a response to the killing of Sonya Massey, who called 911 last summer from her home, only to be shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy who had a history of misconduct across previous stints as a police officer.
State Sen. Doris Turner, a family friend of Massey and her family, described the legislation she introduced as “the first of its kind in the nation” and supported the idea of the commission continuing work in some form beyond a final report. The police hiring reform bill was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker at an Aug. 12 ceremony that included the Massey family.
“I believe that there’s still more work that needs to be done, whether it continues as the Massey Commission or whether it continues as another iteration of that,” she said. “I do believe that there will be some form of a body that will allow that work to continue,” she told an Illinois Times reporter afterwards.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who announced a run for U.S. Senate earlier this year, said getting the bill passed was part of her elected duty.
“Something tragic happened right here in Springfield last year,” Stratton said at the bill signing. “Although nothing we say or do will bring Sonya back, it is our responsibility as leaders to do everything in our power to deliver change.”
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Ferguson Commission members visit Springfield
Police shootings have long been a national problem, gaining more attention as mobile videos documenting violence by police began to circulate on social media nearly in real time.
Three members of the Ferguson Commission, which was convened in the wake of a Missouri police officer shooting and killing teenager Michael Brown Jr. in 2014, visited the Massey Commission the night before Pritzker signed the hiring reform bill.
In the years since Brown was killed, Missouri police have killed more than 300 people. In the 13 months since Massey was killed, almost 30 people in Illinois have been shot and killed by police.
Nicole Hudson, a member of the Ferguson Commission who visited the Massey Commission’s August hearing, said the final report the Springfield team submits is just a stepping stone towards community change.
“I would say to people, ‘There’s one call to action: it’s work on racial equity in this region, here’s 189 ways to get started,’” Hudson said, referring to the almost 200 calls to action the Ferguson Commission included in its final report.
Commissioner Sunshine Clemons, founder of Black Lives Matter Springfield, explained a desire to restrain the number of recommendations the Massey Commission includes in its final report.
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“One of the things that I’ve struggled with all along is I’m worried about putting things in this report that could be considered the small wins,” Clemons said to the Ferguson members in attendance, explaining her original desires with the final report. “You want to make sure something gets done; my first thought was I don’t want any of that in it, I want only the big swings.”
She explained how she understood that the recommendations are just that, recommendations, and won’t directly change the county without further legwork.
“We’ll make sure we get something that really impacts this community, but I also recognize the (Sangamon County) Board doesn’t have to do anything,” Clemons said.
Members of the Massey Commission have made it known that actually creating change will come in the months and years after their official report is submitted to the County Board.
One public commenter, Tom Davis, suggested the commission invite community stakeholders to next month’s hearing as a way to drum up community engagement and commitment to the commission’s ultimate goals.
“This commission could draw up a list of a top 100 accountable bodies,” Davis told the commission. “Everything from businesses, universities, hospitals, all these social services – maybe it would exceed 100 – but to get your name invited by the Massey Commission to get involved and invest in the implementation, that might be impressive to some people that otherwise are not engaged.”
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First steps of legislative change
The bill signed into law will also expand the number of counties required to establish a Sheriff’s Merit Board, a team that usually has some members appointed by a county sheriff to review deputy appointments and other administrative issues. While Sangamon County has a merit commission, its online information is scattered. In comparison, Champaign County has a Sheriff’s Merit Commission that regularly posts transparency updates.
Despite support of Turner’s bill from members of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, Sangamon County Sheriff Paula Crouch – who replaced Jack Campbell last fall and has been invited to Massey Commission work group meetings – filed her formal opposition to the legislation in early April.
Crouch did not respond to requests for comment from Illinois Times.
At an early August work group for the Massey Commission, Springfield NAACP president Austin Randolph Jr. expressed the need for sensible legislation to override any given sheriff’s agenda.
“My concern is what happens two years, three years, four years down the line,” Randolph said. “We’re looking further down the road – (Paula Crouch) might not be here 10 years from now. There could be other issues, but if the pieces are in place that have teeth and accountability and responsibility, then that person can be held culpable. The problem is, nobody’s responsible… The next sheriff can come in and say, ‘Forget this,’ because it’s not policy, it’s not law, it’s not with the county. And that’s been the problem for years. Each sheriff can do what he or she wants to do.”
Sheriffs, who are elected and often run uncontested, have outsized control over their departments when compared to other law enforcement offices. The race for Sangamon County Sheriff was last contested in 2018 and is up for grabs again next year.
At the bill signing, Pritzker condemned how it took the loss of Massey’s life to reveal then-deputy Sean Grayson’s past actions.
“Officers with histories of serious disciplinary issues should not be serving in those capacities in our communities,” Pritzker said. “Those histories should not come to light only after the disaster happens.”
Going into effect in January, the law aims to increase accountability for police departments and steer departments away from hiring cops with histories of misconduct.
Turner said the law could have prevented Grayson from being hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in the first place.
The law could have also given the Riverton Police Department reason to not hire James Hillyer, a police officer who bounced around almost a half dozen departments for decades before being arrested in 2023 and charged with possession of child pornography, official misconduct and grooming. A police database maintained by Invisible Institute, compiled through Freedom of Information Act requests, shows Hillyer was fired from at least two other police departments prior to being hired by Riverton Police.
Hillyer ended up serving less than a year as part of a plea deal and is now out of prison as a registered sex offender for life. Most people convicted on child pornography charges serve at least five years of prison, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
The next Massey Commission hearing will take place Monday, Sept. 15 at Salvation Army, 1600 E. Clear Lake Ave. Work group information and more can be found at sangamonil.gov/masseycommission.
This article appears in Combating homelessness.
Doris Turner is the dollar store Maxine Waters. Exactly the politician Illinois deserves. She should run for governor!