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YEAR AFTER
GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH, POLICE CONTRACTS STOP ILLINOIS REFORM
Illinois Policy Institute/
Mailee Smith
It has been a year since George Floyd died
beneath a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, setting off riots in
Chicago and protests across Illinois. Lawmakers vowed reforms, but
nothing will change as long as police contracts overpower state law. |
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At the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, 36 states have
passed some form of police reform. If Illinois tries to follow, the efforts
essentially will be meaningless.
That’s because Illinois gives greater weight to police union contracts than any
reforms that make it into law.
Section 15 is a provision hidden near the end of the Illinois Public Labor
Relations Act detailing how state law must yield to union contracts, including
those within police departments. That means if any reforms run counter to a
police union’s contract – such as making it easier to discipline or fire
problematic officers, amending the police “bill of rights” or ending the use of
police chokeholds – the union contract will prevail. This applies to police
departments across Illinois.
The Chicago Police Department’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police
shows how Section 15 stops police reform in Illinois. Officers receive
protections and investigators face prohibitions that members of the public
facing a criminal allegation don’t generally enjoy.
FOP contract provisions control which complaints are investigated. The U.S.
Department of Justice found Chicago fails to investigate nearly half of police
misconduct complaints because of FOP contract provisions such as limiting
investigations of accused officers whose complainants are anonymous. A provision
requires complainants to sign an “appropriate affidavit,” confirming under oath
that their allegations are true. That both intimidates complainants and stops
fellow officers from filing complaints because the threat of retaliation is
real.
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FOP provisions also hinder investigations that move
forward after a signed affidavit is filed. The contract gives
suspect officers access to information and help in shaping
investigation statements. Accused officers can be provided with a
copy of any and all recorded or written statements they made within
72 hours of when the statement was made. An officer may even be
allowed to review video or audio evidence related to the alleged
incident prior to making his or her statement.
Provisions also impede public access to investigation records. FOP
contract provisions allow for investigation records pertaining to
disciplinary files to be destroyed after a certain time, meaning
information cannot be used against the officer in any future
proceedings. Misconduct incidents that do not result in disciplinary
action are removed from an officer’s record after just one year.
Disciplinary files for “Police Board cases” are destroyed after five
years, and “not sustained files alleging criminal conduct or
excessive force” are retained for a seven years after the incident
or violation.
Chicago is not the only Illinois city with these barriers to holding
rogue officers accountable. A survey of contracts in Illinois’ next
10 largest cities found similar barriers to stopping bad cops and
protecting the vast majority of officers serving honorably but being
tainted by bad actors.
If a police reform package yet emerges in the waning days of the
Illinois General Assembly’s session, it will be merely words on
paper until the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act is changed to
stop police contracts from carrying more power than state law. That
reform would have been appropriate on May 25 as the nation
remembered George Floyd, but it will be no less meaningful if it
comes before lawmakers adjourn on Memorial Day.
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