State Journal-Register
State Rep. Curtis Tarver is a man on a mission to reform Illinois law enforcement by eliminating a special legal protection given cops.
The Chicago Democrat’s Bad Apples in Law Enforcement Accountability Act passed out of committee two weeks ago and awaits a vote in the House.
The measure aims to remove the court doctrine of qualified immunity for officers, which would open them up to civil litigation if they participate in the “deprivation of any individual rights” guaranteed in the Illinois Constitution.
The top priority of Illinois law enforcement groups is to defeat this measure, said Ed Wojcicki, executive director at the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
WBGZ Radio 4/12/2021 |
By Kevin Bessler - Illinois Radio Network
State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, has introduced a bill to take away the police protection of qualified immunity, but the policing community says it will create safety issues and more problems.
If successful, this bill would open officers up to civil litigation if they deprive anyone of their constitutional rights. The bill goes a step further and would create liability for an officer who fails to intervene in such a situation.
Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Director Ed Wojcicki said legislators don’t appear to understand what qualified immunity really is.
This story was co-published with Illinois Times.
Facebook posts by two Springfield police officers last year harmed police operations and community relations. That was the conclusion of internal affairs investigations by the city police department, as well as reactions from capital city activists working to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the people they serve.
In a widely reported incident last May, Officer Andrew Barnes criticized the city’s two Black city council members. In a post on his personal Facebook page, Barnes called Ald. Shawn Gregory a “fucking idiot.” Barnes was pushing back on comments made by Gregory and then-Ald. Doris Turner in which the two criticized how police responded to block parties in Gregory’s majority-Black ward.
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