Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed new legislation requiring law enforcement agencies in the state to perform more comprehensive reviews of prospective officers, prompted by the 2024 shooting of Sonya Massey, a black woman who was shot in the face while in her home by a sheriff’s deputy. Top provisions of the bill, according to Illinois State Sen. Doris Turner, include making sure that hiring agencies have a candidate’s full employment history, creating merit boards for hiring sheriff’s deputies in significantly smaller jurisdictions, and ensuring more comprehensive employment vetting rules apply to all law enforcement agencies, from township police to park police. Pritzker signed the legislation, called the Sonya Massey Act, on Aug. 12th. |
