Illinois
Sangamon County sheriff’s department subject of a Department of Justice civil rights probe
A scathing letter from the U.S. Department of Justice said the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by a now former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy in her home this past summer “raises serious concerns about (the sheriff department’s) interactions with Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities” along with a host of practices and procedures.
The eight-page letter directed to Sheriff Paula Crouch and State’s Attorney John Milhiser among others and dated on Nov. 14, asks for the department’s cooperation in providing records in nearly 30 different areas.
Crouch, in a statement released Friday, said her department “pledged full cooperation with the Department of Justice in its review.”
A representative from the office of civil rights attorney Ben Crump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Florida-based Crump represents the Massey family.
The DOJ probe is outside of the criminal prosecution of former deputy Sean Grayson, who is charged with Massey’s murder.
The letter added that Massey’s killing incident brings into question the sheriff’s department’s “policies, practices, procedures, and training regarding community policing, bias-free policing, response to behavioral health crises, use of force, de-escalation, affirmative duty to intervene, affirmative duty to render medical aid, and body-worn camera policies and compliance.”
The fatal incident and prior 911 calls involving Massey in the days before her death indicate “possible issues” with Sangamon County, the sheriff’s department and the sheriff’s department emergency response and dispatch system, the letter added.
The DOJ also has reviewed reports “concerning (the sheriff’s department employment practices, including allegations that a lack of racial diversity at (the department) impacts (its) provision of policing services in communities of color.”
In addition to seeking all records related to the fatal shooting of Massey, the sheriff’s department was asked to identify whether it “has provided or currently provides any form of alternative response models when responding to behavioral health crises or interacting with someone with a behavioral healthdisability.”
That includes any co-responder teams, mobile crisis teams or Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) programs.
With regards to its hiring process for deputies and lateral transfers, the department was asked to produce information on recruitment, background check, psychometricevaluation, reference, and selection processes.
Grayson’s hiring process has been brought into question. His criminal history shows he had two DUIs and a questionable discharge from the military. Grayson had also been with six different law enforcement agencies within four years.
Grayson used his future father-in-law, Scott Butterfield, a former county sheriff’s deputy, as an employment reference in 2023.
Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and the mother of two children, called 911 about a would-be prowler at her home on Hoover Street early on the morning of July 6. Massey was the subject of a 911 call shortly after 9 a.m. on July 5 made by her mother, Donna Massey, who said she was having “a mental breakdown.”
Springfield Police responded because Donna Massey’s home was within the city. Sonya Massey’s Hoover Street home is an unincorporated part of Woodside Township.
The Massey Commission was called for in August by Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter and State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, with an eye towards addressing systemic issues in law enforcement practices, mental health responses and community relations.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.