Lawyers from the Illinois Attorney General’s office encouraged Joliet residents to come forward to provide information that may be helpful in its civil investigation of the Joliet Police Department, which began bSept. 8.
During a Sept. 23 town hall meeting, attorneys part of the investigation examining whether JPD has a practice or pattern of civil rights violations, introduced themselves, gave an overview of what they will be working on and answered questions.
They have received over 20,000 documents from JPD and are requesting more to get a better understanding of its policies and procedures. The attorneys will review JPD’s systems in place for investigating allegations and its education and training programs. Additionally, they will go on ride-alongs, conduct individual interviews and take a look at how officers are supervised.
But that won’t paint a comprehensive picture, the attorneys said.
That’s why the team will continue to host town hall meetings, to provide a space for residents to give feedback and information, they said. That includes those who may have first-hand experience in incidents related to use of force, racial discrimination, search and seizure and misconduct by JPD officers.
”We need to hear from the community,” said Amy Meek, chief of the Civil Rights Bureau.” We want to hear from you all about your experiences with JPD or who else we should be talking with. That’ll help our attorneys refine and potentially expand the focus of our investigation and it’ll help us get candid opinions and experience with JPD.”
The investigation came after their office received a letter from Joliet’s mayor and members of city council in the summer of 2020. In it, they called for an independent review of the death of Eric Lurry, a 37-year-old Black man, in police custody. That sparked a preliminary review to see whether his death was part of a pattern of systemic issues in the department.
Assistant Attorney General Hannah Jurowicz said the office hasn’t formed any conclusions about JPD. But after conducting a preliminary
review of public records and additional documents, they found “enough areas of concern to warrant initiating a pattern or practice investigation.”
The investigation will focus on many incidents over time but will not form specific conclusions about any one incident or police officer, attorneys said. But those items will inform the “big picture,” Jurowicz said, noting it’s all in an effort “to prevent future incidents from happening.
Attorney Stevi Steines said the investigation is similar to one conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Justice into the Chicago Police Department. The department found that CPD engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional use of force. It led to a federal consent decree mandating an overhaul of CPD’s practices to address a variety of issues related to training, transparency and use of force. Depending on what their investigation finds, JPD could head in a similar direction, Steines said.
A consent decree is “a set of promises the city and the Joliet Police Department must keep,” Steines said.
It’s unknown how long the investigation will take but similar ones have taken years, Steines said.
Individuals who have information relevant to the investigation can email input.joliet@ilag.gov or call 833-243-1498.The team is also willing to accept information anonymously.
Noah Johnson News Contributor- news@thetimesweekly.com