Bill with stricter enforcements for hiring police officers heads to Gov. Pritzker’s desk

• A bill requiring stricter police hiring practices has made it through the General Assembly and is headed to Gov. Pritzker.
• State Sen. Doris Turner said the legislation is ‘a promise kept’ to the family of Sonya Massey.
• Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the bill ‘helps address the deep flaws in the law enforcement hiring process.’

Last summer, at a press conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the family of Sonya Massey, 48th District State Sen. Doris Turner talked about knowing multiple generations of the Massey family.

"This one hits me very differently," Turner said then of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy on July 6, 2024, inside her home after placing a 911 call.

Turner added she would do "everything within (my) power to ensure that Sonya receives the justice that she deserves."

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The Springfield Democrat delivered legislatively.

Thanks to Turner and State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, a bill is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk that will require stricter law enforcement hiring practices.

Already through the Senate, the bill passed the House on May 15.

The hiring of Sean Grayson, charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Massey, has been called into question, from concerns about his conduct at past police positions to his two DUI convictions before he was a police officer.

The bill would require law enforcement agencies to conduct a more comprehensive review of a prospective officer’s past employment to ensure fitness for duty before making an offer of employment.

Turner said the measure could have prevented officers like Grayson from being on the job.

"I feel confident that going forward and over time, our communities and law enforcement will have built a trusting relationship, and I have kept my promise to my friend (Sonya) and Sonya’s mother, (Donna Massey)," Turner said.

Sonya Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said Grayson should have never been in law enforcement in the first place.

"You get what you deserve when you use these bad apples," said Wilburn, a former U.S. border agent who lives in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. "One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. There are great law enforcement officers all across this country who do a great job, but not Sean Grayson."

Language in the legislation, Wilburn said, "should be everywhere. I plan to take it back to Arkansas. I plan to take it all across this country."

Crump said in a statement on May 15 that the legislation "helps address the deep flaws in the law enforcement hiring process."

Sangamon County Sheriff Paula Crouch implemented a four-person merit commission and a mandate that investigators review records in person if an applicant worked at another law enforcement agency.

Among those making complaints against Grayson was a former inmate at the Logan County Jail who said Grayson ordered her to expose herself to him.

Grayson denied the accusation and resigned as a Logan County Sheriff’s deputy before the complaint was formally investigated. Six months later, Grayson was hired by Sangamon County.

Grayson, who has pleaded not guilty to all counts in the Massey case, is scheduled to stand trial in Peoria County on Oct. 20.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.