Elgie R. Sims Jr.
Kwame Y. Raoul
Bruce Rauner
SPRINGFIELD — After a year of nationwide protests over race and use-of-force policies, Illinois lawmakers have enacted sweeping police changes.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner Wednesday signed Senate Bill 1304 which includes standards and funding for officer-worn cameras, data-collection on officer misconduct and independent investigations of officer-involved deaths.
The move comes almost exactly a year after a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., killed an unarmed black teen, sparking widespread calls for reform.
The new law will also ban police chokeholds, which gained attention last year after a video showed a New York City police officer using the move to subdue and ultimately kill a black man they claimed was illegally selling cigarettes.
Body cameras are not a mandate, however. Instead, lawmakers say departments would be incentivized to buy them with a funding stream created by a $5 hike on traffic tickets, effective Jan. 1.
The law represents a rare, big-ticket bipartisan compromise in a legislative session where Republicans and Democrats have been bitterly divided over financial issues. It passed the House on a 107-3 vote and the Senate on a 45-5 vote.
In a statement, Rauner said the bill sets new training guidelines for officers and protects the public by prohibiting officers from using unnecessary force.
“I thank the legislators who sponsored this bill. It will have a lasting and positive impact on the people of Illinois,” he said.
Under the law, police using the cameras must keep them on at all times while working unless they’re speaking with an informant; a witness or victim requests they be turned off; or they’re at a town hall or similar community event.
Recordings are kept for 90 days before being destroyed unless they’re flagged for evidence. In those cases, they must be kept for two years or until a final order is issued by a judge.
The recordings are exempt from open records laws unless they pertain to a particular complaint, an arrest or officers’ use of force.
If a recording is destroyed prematurely or not captured at all, and a judge finds by a preponderance of the evidence that it was intentionally not captured, he or she must weigh that information in considering the overall disposition of the case.
The law also says police departments must use outside agencies to investigate officer-involved deaths, and parties in civil or criminal cases can ask a judge for a special prosecutor in instances they believe he or she has conflicts of interest.
Finally, the law increases mandatory cultural training for police and creates a statewide database on officers who have been fired or resigned during an inquiry into their misconduct. It also requires data collection on pedestrian stops and use of force.
Sen. Kwame Y. Raoul, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill, said while the body-camera aspect could prevent events similar to Ferguson, it’s not a panacea.
“It could be a deterrent to a rogue cop who might otherwise do something, or exercise excessive force. So from that point, it could be preventative,” Raoul said at a Statehouse news conference Wednesday. “But let’s not be delusional in terms of thinking this is going to be a cure-all.”
Still, the bill’s backers were bullish on their product. All of them said it set an example for other states. A few alluded to the ongoing state budget impasse and said discussions on the police bill could be a reference for how to compromise.
Rep. John Anthony, a Plainfield Republican and police officer who co-sponsored the bill, said the process took almost a year.
“You have to remember this: There were 200 — 200 — bills filed that in some way wanted to deal with policing,” he said. “We were able to whittle that down to 15 bills. We all came together with the police unions, the chiefs of police and the sheriffs’ association. And this was the product.”
“Illinois has set a model for the nation,” said Rep. Elgie R. Sims Jr., the bill’s House sponsor and a Chicago Democrat. “I think hopefully we’ve set the tone for legislative discussions going forward, but also legislative discussions nationally.”