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A Sangamon County Board member on Aug. 20 withdrew, for the time
being, her formal proposal for a series of reforms that would increase scrutiny
and oversight of the hiring of new sheriff’s deputies.
Springfield
Democrat Gina Lathan said the actions called for in her resolution – drafted in
the wake of the July 6 officer-involved shooting death of Woodside Township
resident Sonya Massey – would best be carried out by the citizen group known as
the Massey Commission.
“I really wanted
to move this process forward,” Lathan, the board’s District 22 representative,
told Illinois Times after a meeting
of the board’s jail committee at which she withdrew the resolution from active
consideration. “I want to improve the current system and ensure that it is
transparent,” she said.
Lathan said
the Massey Commission appears to be the best place to solicit “resources and
community input” for proposals in the resolution. The commission is expected to
receive an initial appropriation of $100,000 from the County Board.
If it doesn’t
look like the resolution’s goals will be achieved through the work of the
commission, Lathan pledged to bring the proposal back to the jail committee and
the full County Board.
A different
resolution, this one setting in motion the commission’s creation, is scheduled
for a vote at the board’s Sept. 10 meeting.
The commission is
one way Sangamon County officials are trying to address the many issues raised
by the death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman with a mental illness.
The single mother of two was shot in the face and killed by a white sheriff’s
deputy, Sean Grayson, 30, in her home after she thought there was a prowler
around her home and called 911.
Sheriff Jack
Campbell hired Grayson despite problems at his previous policing jobs – some of
which Campbell said he knew nothing about – and after Grayson received a good
reference from his future father-in-law, a retired former deputy in the
sheriff’s department.
Grayson has been
charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and
official misconduct in the incident, which was captured on an accompanying
deputy’s body-worn camera. Grayson has been denied pretrial release and is
being held in the Menard County Jail in Petersburg.
County Board
Chairperson Andy Van Meter, a Springfield Republican, and state Sen. Doris
Turner, a Springfield Democrat, announced formation of the Massey commission
Aug. 16.
The
commission will have three co-chairs: Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine; the Rev. T. Ray McJunkins,
pastor of Union Baptist Church; and Nina Harris, former Springfield Urban
League president.
The three
co-chairs will select the other members of the commission, which will contain
no elected officials. According to the proposed resolution to be considered in
September, the panel will come up with “some actionable recommendations” within
six months and produce a final report and full list of proposals within one
year, according to the resolution.
A news
release unveiling the commission said the group will recommend policy changes
and other measures to “address the issues of race relations and systemic
racism, and to examine associated issues in law enforcement practices, mental
health responses and community relations.”
Those wanting
to serve on the commission can apply online at SangamonIL.gov/MasseyCommission,
with an application deadline of 5 p.m. Aug. 30.
Turner, a
former County Board member, said she hopes the commission honors Massey’s life
“by finding solutions to advance our community.”
County Board
member Marc Ayers, a Springfield Democrat, said he is considering proposing an
amendment to the resolution so it would require county government to pay for a
private, outside organization to investigate the circumstances surrounding
Grayson’s hiring.
Such an
investigation would supplement a previously announced U.S. Department of
Justice investigation into Massey’s death, Ayers said.
The
resolution that Lathan withdrew called upon the sheriff to put in place “more
stringent hiring practices.” The proposal would expand the oversight role of
the Sangamon County Deputy Merit Commission and require background checks to
include Freedom of Information Act requests for personnel files from previous
employers.
The
resolution would disqualify applicants with two or more DUI convictions in a
10-year period – a situation that applied to Grayson – as well as an
independent, outside review of hiring practices and improvements in the
department’s procedures for handling “critical incidents to restore public
trust.”
Several local
residents attending the jail committee meeting, including Evan Brown and
Breonna Roberts, said they would like to see Lathan’s resolution adopted by the
County Board now so the community won’t have to wait months for changes.
“How can we
expect to improve public safety if we continue to hire based on family ties
instead of merit, character and qualifications?” Roberts asked. “To prevent
future tragedies, we must implement robust and transparent background checks
that dig deeper than surface-level examination.”
Brown said,
“The culture of law enforcement is rotten.”
Campbell, 60,
a Republican in his second four-year term as the elected sheriff, faced calls
for his resignation in the wake of Massey’s death, including from Democratic
Gov. JB Pritzker. After initially saying those calls were “political
maneuvering,” Campbell announced Aug. 9 he would retire, effective no later
than Aug. 31.
Van Meter
said Aug. 19 that he has created a committee to review applications and
participate in the interview and nomination process for a new sheriff who would
serve until Campbell’s term is up in fall 2026.
State law calls
for Campbell’s replacement to be hired within 60 days after he leaves. Between
the time Campbell retires and the County Board names a new sheriff, Coroner Jim
Allmon will add the role of sheriff to his duties.
The law requires
Campbell’s replacement for the remainder of his term to be associated with his political
party, a resident of Sangamon County for a year or more, not be a convicted felon,
and have successfully completed law enforcement training.
The review
committee will be headed by retired Circuit Court judge Pat Kelley; two County
Board members, Republicans Joel Tjelmeland and Linda Douglas-Williams; First
Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rogers; retired deputy Chico Belle; and
former County Board member Catie Sheehan, the SIU System’s executive director
of marketing and communications.
County Board
member Sam Cahnman, a Springfield Democrat representing District 18, said in a
statement that he was “pleased County Board Chair Andy Van Meter accepted my
suggestion” to create a special committee to assist him in picking a
replacement for Campbell.
But Cahnman
added, “I am disappointed that this committee of five Republicans and two
Democrats does not include any members of social-justice groups or members of
Sonya Massey’s family” and doesn’t include people representing the Public
Defender’s office and private defense lawyers.
When asked
his reaction to Cahnman’s suggested additions to the review committee, Van
Meter said in a statement: “Sam would find fault with a committee composed of
Confucius, Socrates, Gandhi, the Biblical Ruth, Mother Teresa and Nelson
Mandela.”
Cahnman tried
unsuccessfully to get the County Board to put a binding referendum on the Nov.
5 ballot that would give voters the ability to oust future sheriffs through a
recall election.