Illinois Attorney General report finds Joliet police engage in pattern of excessive force
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A three-year investigation by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office has determined the Joliet Police Department has a pattern of using excessive force.
The attorney general's office launched its investigation into the Joliet Police Department's policing practices in September 2021. Investigators looked into department policies, training practices, and supervision as they relate to traffic and pedestrian stops, searches, arrests, and use of force.
In reports obtained by CBS News Chicago Investigator Dave Savini, Raoul's office determined "JPD has a pattern or practice of using unreasonable force that is not limited to any single weapon, tactic, or context."
"From command staff down, JPD embraces the outdated mindset that using force early avoids the need for more force later. We noted repeated instances where JPD's tendency to 'come in hot' confused or antagonized the persons involved, leading to disproportionate use of force," the attorney general's office noted.
In a joint statement, Raoul and Joliet Mayor Terry D'Arcy said, "Joliet residents deserve lawful and constitutional policing that is fair to all people, regardless of race or gender."
They also said the report released on Thursday "is not the conclusion" of efforts to ensure constitutional policing in Joliet.
"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," they said.
The reports released by Raoul's office cited multiple concerning trends, including a failure to de-escalate situations, and a tendency to actively escalate encounters, often leading to excessive use of force. The attorney general's office also found that Joliet police offices rarely intervene when their colleagues use excessive force, and supervisors rarely identify or correct such behavior.
"Although we identified numerous unreasonable uses of force between 2017 and 2022, JPD rarely found those uses of force to be excessive. Every year, JPD's annual use of force analysis concludes that 'ALL incidents continue to be found within policy,'" the reports state. "A system that validates unlawful force is a broken system."
The attorney general's office said they were particularly concerned about Joliet police officers' use of Tasers and head strikes, including a tendency to use them repeatedly despite facing no commensurate threat.
"These concerns often overlapped with unnecessary escalation or retaliatory force and included instances of unreasonable force against teenagers and people with behavioral health disabilities," the reports state.
While the attorney general's office found the Joliet Police Department has made some improvements to its procedures for reporting and reviewing its officers' use of force, it noted "if JPD supervisors and command staff continue to green light unreasonable uses of force, the pattern will continue."
"JPD's repeated failure to identify and address unreasonable force is not an aberration—it is a hallmark of its supervisory culture. The Department's inability to police itself sends the message from the top down that nearly any force can be justified and that there are no consequences for using unreasonable force," the report states.
The investigation was launched in response to the 2020 death of Eric Lurry, a 37-year-old Black man who died while in Joliet police custody.
Video first obtained by the CBS 2 Investigators
shows Lurry in the back seat of a squad car, handcuffed during a drug-related arrest.
At one point an officer was seen pinching Lurry's nose shut while another inserted a baton into his mouth.
Lurry was later pronounced dead. His widow has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Joliet and four officers involved in his arrest, accusing them of violating his civil rights and causing his wrongful death.
