Elgie R. Sims Jr.
Kwame Y. Raoul
SPRINGFIELD — In a legislative session marked by partisan disagreement, Republicans and Democrats found common ground on police reforms.
Lawmakers on Saturday overwhelmingly approved a package of rules for police body cameras that also requires independent investigations of officer-involved citizen deaths, creates a process for appointing special prosecutors and bulks up data-collection efforts on police stops and misconduct.
Senate Bill 1304, which the Senate approved on a 45-5 vote, was a direct response to national controversies over use-of-force policies after officer-involved deaths of unarmed black citizens in New York City; Ferguson, Mo., and other places.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Kwame Y. Raoul and Rep. Elgie R. Sims Jr. — both Chicago Democrats — was approved by the House on a 107-3 vote earlier last week amid contentious budget talks that have forced legislators to schedule session days beyond their normally scheduled May 31 adjournment.
The law wouldn’t force departments to use body cameras. Instead, it would rely on a $5 hike to all traffic tickets issued in Illinois to create a grant program that subsidizes the cost for departments to opt in to the program.
Raoul said part of the reason the bill doesn’t require camera use was that, even with some added revenue from ticket fees, it would have been too costly for the state to mandate them for every department.
“One thing I think is that it’s going to, in short time, be so widely used voluntarily that at that point we can cross that road,” he said today. “But, at this point, this state is obviously dealing with a resource challenge.”
The bill also bans police chokeholds — the tactic that caused an outcry when police used it in a confrontation that killed an unarmed New York City man last year.
And, in light of confusion over a state eavesdropping law that went into effect in December, the bill clarifies that citizens can record police when officers have no “reasonable expectation” of privacy.
A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said in an e-mail only that he would “carefully consider” any legislation that gets to his desk. As of today’s publication time, the legislation had not been sent to Rauner.
Under the law, police in participating departments would have to have keep the cameras on at all times while on a call unless they’re speaking with a confidential informant; they’re at a “community-caretaking” function such as a town hall meeting; or a victim or witness requests they be turned off.
Recordings must be kept for 90 days and then destroyed unless they’re flagged for evidentiary purposes. In such cases, the bill requires they be kept for at least two years or until a final order from a court.
The recordings are exempt from open records laws unless they pertain to a complaint, an arrest or an officer’s use of force.
If a judge finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a recording was intentionally not captured, altered or destroyed, the judge must consider that fact in weighing the overall evidence in the case.
A separate section of the bill, titled the “Police and Community Improvement Act,” says law-enforcement agencies must use outside agencies to investigate officer-involved deaths.
It also states that judges or parties in any civil or criminal case may file a petition to have a special prosecutor appointed in cases in which he or she may have a conflict of interest.
Under the bill, prosecutors can also file petitions to recuse themselves. The judge would determine whether a special appointment or recusal request should be honored.
Matthew P. Jones, top lobbyist for the appellate prosecutors, said the group negotiated on and ultimately supported the bill because recordings help them and officers as much as victims of police misconduct.
He said studies of body cameras show the number of claims of bad behavior by police go down when they have cameras because there are fewer false claims filed and officers themselves are more circumspect when they have video recordings.
"It’s the best evidence of what happened, and human recollection and description of things in a high-pressure situation are not perfect. So the videotape works to supplement that and allow the most accurate description of the evidence possible," Jones said. "Officers and prosecutors want to get it right. And in terms of interactions and allegations of police misconduct, again, the videotape heads that off."
The bill also would require departments to report monthly statistics on arrest-related deaths and officer-involved uses of force. It would create a database of officers who’ve been fired due to misconduct and expands traffic-stop data collection to cover pedestrian stops as well.
A chokehold ban would apply unless it’s used when deadly force is justified. A chokehold is defined as “applying any direct pressure to the throat, windpipe or airway of another with the intent to reduce or prevent the intake of air.”
Although the legislation passed with large bipartisan majorities in both chambers, the bill had its detractors.
Sen. Thomas Chapin Rose II, a Republican from Mahomet, voted against it and said on the Senate floor that he was worried there weren’t enough rules in place protecting innocent bystanders who are caught on video or ensuring the recordings are totally deleted.
“I’m really, absolutely uncomfortable that we’ve come so far in society that we’re now asking government to subject us to complete surveillance at all times,” he said.
He added later: “We still don’t know what happens to the fundamental data. Who’s in charge of deleting it? That’s not an unfair question to ask.”