Author: Kallie Cox and William Freivogel

Police misconduct records secret, hard to access

Police misconduct records are either secret or difficult to access in a majority of states — 32 of them including Washington, D.C. But the breeze of openness is blowing. Seven big states have opened records in recent years — California, New York, Illinois, Colorado, Massachusetts and Maryland. Nineteen states now have laws that allow these

Records show Illinois fails to hold police accountable for misconduct

Eighty-one Chicago police officers lost their badges over the past 20 years, but only after being investigated for 1,706 previous offenses – an average of 21 accusations per officer.   One third (28) of these Chicago officers were investigated for domestic altercations or sexual misconduct. Two murdered their wives.   That statistical picture emerges from records obtained

Police misconduct records secret, difficult to access

Police misconduct records are either secret or difficult to access in a majority of states – 35 of them plus Washington, D.C. But the breeze of openness is blowing. Seven big states have opened records in recent years – California, New York, Illinois, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon and Maryland. Now 15 states have laws that allow these records