Illinois Attorney General: Joliet Police Dept. has pattern of use of force, racial discrimination

The Joliet Police Department has a pattern of engaging in unreasonable force that is “not limited to any one type of force, tactic, or context” and is a violation of constitutional rights, according to a report released Thursday by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

The patterns displayed by Joliet police are in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Illinois law, according to the report.

“JPD’s patterns of unlawful policing are enabled by JPD’s broken accountability systems, which routinely fail to hold Department members accountable for misconduct,” according to the attorney general’s office.

In addition to the findings on use of force, the report cites the Joliet Police Department engages in “discriminatory policing against Black people” and its policing practices also raise concerns “about unlawful discrimination against Latino people.

The report is a result of a three-year investigation into the Joliet Police Department that was launched in 2021 by the civil rights division of the attorney general’s office.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at the time his office was acting on a request by then Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and the Joliet City Council in 2020.

O’Dekirk sought an investigation from the attorney general’s office in June 2020 in response to concerns over the death of Eric Lurry in police custody after his arrest in January of that year.

Lurry’s death was investigated by the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, the Will County Coroner’s Office and the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

State’s Attorney James Glasgow concluded in a July 2, 2020, memo that Lurry died after he ingested fatal amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and his death “did not result directly from any action or inaction by an officer of the Joliet Police Department.”

Current Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans, who was hired to lead the department in May 2022, said the report does not reflect the current state of the department.

“This is not the Joliet Police Department of today, but rather a picture of the past,” Evans said in a police department news release Thursday. “Since the onset of the investigation, we have fully cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office. We provided them with unfettered access to all available information because we wanted to be as transparent as possible. In reading the report, we respectfully disagree with some of the conclusions drawn from their investigation.”

Evans cited significant changes that have taken place in recent years.

“We have new leadership in both the mayor’s office and the city manager’s office, and they support the direction this department has taken since the Attorney General’s Office became involved,” Evans said in the release. “I’ve been chief for two and a half years and have directed the most experienced and diverse command staff to make the changes needed to move the department forward.”

At the time of his hiring, Evans was the city’s fourth police chief in four years.

Raoul and Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy issued a joint written statement around noon Thursday saying the city of Joliet and the Joliet Police Department cooperated fully with the investigation, provided access to data, responded to questions, and facilitated the investigative team’s access to information.

“Joliet residents deserve lawful and constitutional policing that is fair to all people, regardless of race or gender,” the statement read. “We are committed to continuing the collaborative work that began when the prior Joliet city leadership, led by former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, invited the Attorney General’s office to open an investigation, in response to concerns raised by the public, following the tragic death of Eric Lurry after his arrest in 2020 by JPD officers.”

The investigative team was comprised of attorneys and staff in the Public Interest Division of the Attorney General’s office, in consultation with law enforcement experts, according to the attorney general’s office.

The team reviewed “thousands of pages of documents provided by the department,” the office said. In addition, the team conducted dozens of interviews with officers, supervisors, command staff, union representatives, members of the community and other professionals who interact with members of the department. The investigative team also made on-site visits, participated in police ride-alongs, observed trainings, and reviewed hundreds of hours of squad car and body camera video.

“That work has culminated in a report; however, today’s report is not the conclusion,” according to the joint statement from D’Arcy and Raul. “Rather, we will collaboratively continue, and expand the meaningful changes that have already been enacted since the election of Mayor D’Arcy. Mayor D’Arcy and the city of Joliet in conjunction with the Attorney General’s office are committed to an ongoing collaboration to enact additional changes and provide the gold standard of police services for its citizens.”

D’Arcy also expressed support for the department in the release from the police department later Thursday afternoon.

“This report was initiated under the prior administration, when relations between City Hall and the Police Department were tenuous at best,” D’Arcy said in a statement. “This is a new day in Joliet, and we are making significant changes in how we work together to serve our residents. Joliet has some of the finest and most dedicated individuals, who put their lives on the line every day to protect residents and property. We will continue to move forward and leave this chapter of city operations in the past.”

Use of force pattern

The attorney general’s investigation identified numerous unreasonable uses of force between 2017 and 2022, according to the report. A review of the Joliet Police Department‘s supervisory and force panel review documents and Internal Affairs files, showed that unreasonable use of force was “rarely” identified internally by the department, according to the report.

The police department “trains officers that proactively using force early avoids the need for more force later. This approach has led some officers to unnecessarily escalate situations and engage in avoidable or excessive force,” according to the report.

The findings reveal a pattern of unlawful force within the department, according to the attorney general’s report.

“We have particular concerns about JPD’s use of tasers, head strikes, other bodily force, and gun pointing. Third, JPD uses unreasonable retaliatory force and unreasonable force against teenagers,” according to the report.

The attorney’s general’s investigation also found “almost no instances of any officer intervening to prevent unlawful force, and officer-initiated reports of concerning behavior are rare.”

The report also criticized the police department’s supervisory and force review systems, describing them as “ineffective.” Trends show supervisors tend to accept officers’ version of events “at face value” even with contradictory evidence, according to the report.

“The JPD’s inability to police itself sends the message from the top down that just about any level of force can be justified without consequence,” according to the report.

Racial discrimination

Statistical analyses reveal disproportionate enforcement actions – including traffic stops, arrests, and uses of force – against Black and, to a lesser extent, to Latino community members,” according to the attorney general’s report.

The disparities for Black people “are even greater when the police enforcement activity is more discretionary. Racial disparities also exist in JPD’s gang database. Evidence suggests that these problems stem at least partly from racial bias,“ according to the attorney general’s report, citing evidence of racist language used ”both in and outside the Department.”

These enforcement decisions regarding Black people, even if unintentional, constitutes discrimination in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Illinois Civil Rights Act, according to the report.

Evidence also indicates that some actions by Joliet police officers are motivated at least in part by discriminatory intent, according to the report.

Black people are arrested by the Joliet Police Department more frequently compared with white people engaging in the same conduct, and analysis suggests some of the disparity is the result of some racial basis, according to the report.

Such enforcement practices are damaging the Joliet Police Department’s relationships with Black and Latino people in the community, according to the attorney general’s office.

Evans on Thursday cited a public safety forum hosted this summer by the police department and city officials. The forum was meant to address public concerns and to build trust with the community.

“We take community engagement seriously and have implemented a program to gauge community sentiment,” Evans said in a release.

Training and accountability

The attorney general’s investigation revealed what it called “serious deficiencies” in the Joliet Police Department’s accountability process that “undermine the reliability and legitimacy” of the department’s oversight of officer conduct.

Such deficiencies, the report said, discourage community members and department staff from reporting allegations of misconduct.

In addition to policies, training and supervision, the investigation identified “substantial gaps” in record keeping and data collection and analysis, according to the report.

The Joliet Police Department does not systematically track “gun-pointing data,” the report said. The department therefore is “unable to determine whether its officers use this threat of deadly force in compliance with policy and law,” according to the attorney general’s report.

Evans said in response that the department since 2021 has made numerous improvements in key areas of police operations.

“We’re proud to have updated over 90 policies regarding overall operations, including police accountability, transparency, and oversight,” Evans said in the release. “This department far exceeds all state-mandated training, and we’ve upgraded our technology and equipment, including outfitting all our officers with body-worn cameras to increase accountability and oversight.”

The attorney general’s report said the department fails to consistently collect data on pedestrian stops, the race and ethnicity of members of the public across all enforcement activities, interactions with people with behavioral health disabilities, language access needs, foot pursuits, or misconduct allegations and lawsuits, according to the report.

This lack of data collection is an impediment for the Joliet Police Department in making changes and reforms, according to the attorney general’s office.

“Lasting reform will require meaningful, ongoing engagement with the community, city and department leadership, Department members, unions, and other stakeholders,” according to the attorney general’s report. “JPD has the human talent and dedicated personnel to do this well. Overall, we are encouraged by JPD’s and the City’s commitment to improving public safety services for all members of the Joliet community.”

Evans acknowledged room for improvement but said he supports the department’s rank-and-file. The chief said he believes the report mischaracterizes his department.

“It is unclear what evidence or metrics were used to draw the conclusions in the final report,” Evans said.

“Some of the evidence cited dates back to 2017, nearly a decade ago, and does not reflect how we operate today. The Attorney General’s Office acknowledges the department’s progress and cooperation. Our department will continue to collaborate with the Attorney General’s Office to make meaningful changes and strive to make Joliet Police operations the gold standard in Illinois,” he said.