Questions lead to reprimand of Elgin council member but also spur changes to police misconduct probes
Elgin officials discovered several flaws in the process the city uses to investigate complaints against police officers during a discussion last week that was designed to publicly reprimand a city council member.
City officials received a letter on Aug. 2 detailing a phone call that council member Tish Powell made with an investigator who works for a Naperville-based law firm. The city council hired the firm in 2021 to conduct an independent investigation on complaints of misconduct within the police department.
The letter details questions Powell asked the investigator about how people who file a complaint are interviewed, how they are notified of the outcome of an investigation and whether the firm has had trouble getting information from the police department.
Council members Toby Shaw and Steve Thoren — frequent political opponents of Powell — scheduled a council discussion to publicly object to Powell's contact with the independent investigator.
Shaw said council members come in contact with a lot of the same officers or employees who may be subject to investigations by the law firm. That's why contacting an investigator may give the impression that a council member is trying to influence the outcome of an investigation.
“That is wrong,” Shaw said. “Everyone should be upset about that. People should know that their elected officials are not involved in the outcomes of the investigations.”
The letter from the investigator did not indicate Powell had asked about any specific investigations or that the investigator felt any pressure from Powell to show bias in any current or future investigations. In an interview, Powell said Shaw and Thoren were trying to gain political points with their insinuations.
“It's very clear I never asked about any specific investigations,” Powell said. “I asked about the process for all investigations.”
Both Powell and Shaw have been liaisons in the work of the civilian task force charged with improving relations between the city police department and nonwhite residents. Powell said several members of the community recently have asked her questions about the process for outside investigations.
During task force meetings it's come up that people who have filed complaints against officers have never been contacted by an investigator for a follow-up.
Powell wondered if the law firm ever blocks its phone number before calling, which could lead residents to decline to answer for fear they are getting a spam or telemarketing call.
She said people who filed complaints told her that when the investigation is over, they get notified of the outcome by the police department. Powell said that approach could have a chilling effect.
“Having the police call you after you've made a complaint about the police looks bad,” Powell said.
The majority of the council agreed and voted to have the law firm contact complainants in the future.
Everyone on the council except Powell agreed council members should not have any future direct contact with the outside law firm. They voted to remove even the appearance of prejudicing any investigations by having future questions about the investigative process go through the city staff.
The discussion also revealed two additional flaws in the investigative process. By city ordinance, the final report of all investigations must be simultaneously sent to the police chief, mayor and every city council member. But instead, the report has been going to City Attorney Bill Cogley first and then forwarded to the council.
Part of the reason the city council moved to an outside investigator was to remove any perception of bias by taking the city attorney out of the equation, as well as the retired police officer the city used for police misconduct investigations.
The council asked the city staff to stick to the process laid out in the ordinance in future.