Buckner, Turner Pass Major Law Enforcement Hiring Reform in Response to 2024 Murder of Sonya Massey

CHICAGO –  State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, and state Sen. Doris Turner, D- Springfield, passed reforms to law enforcement hiring practices in response to the 2024 murder of Sangamon County-resident Sonya Massey. Massey’s family and other stakeholders were in the gallery watching when the bill passed the House.

“Sonya Massey was murdered last summer not simply due to a lack of restraint, but due to a lack of truth,” Buckner said. “Sean Grayson was able to conceal the truth about past indiscretions so he could carry a badge and gun, and Ms. Massey lost her life as a result. The bill we passed today is about ensuring that the facts are clear, and a person’s history isn’t in doubt. Whether it’s Schaumburg or Springfield, Bronzeville or Bloomington, more truth in policing will mean less tragedy, and we are making progress in that fight.”

“Sonya was not just a constituent, she was an integral part of my life,” Turner said. “Her mother often told me ‘nothing else matters, I just want you to get justice for my baby.’ With the passage of this legislation, a more comprehensive review of prospective law enforcement officers will be done prior to hiring, and 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 and Sonya’s mother.”

Continuing the fight for safer and more equitable policing in Illinois, Senate Bill 1953 requires the release of personnel records between law enforcement agencies and hiring boards prior to the hiring of police or law enforcement officers. If this measure had been in place prior to Sean Grayson’s hiring, Sonya Massey would be alive today. Sonya Massey’s loved ones and other stakeholders have fought hard for this reform, and will continue to pursue changes in states across the country.

Senate Bill 1953 was written with input from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriffs Association. It has the support of the ACLU, the Attorney General’s Office and numerous law enforcement organizations. Senate Bill 1953 was passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Pritzker for signature.

Civil Attorneys for the Massey family Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said, “The tragedy of Sonya Massey’s heartbreaking killing is that it simply never had to happen. The officer who shot and killed her had a personal and professional history that should have eliminated him as a candidate for a law enforcement job, and he never should have been given a badge and a gun from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department. The passage of the Sonya Massey Bill in the Illinois House will complete a process begun by Illinois State Senator Doris Turner, and create commonsense law enforcement hiring practices that will foster much-needed transparency when evaluating a law enforcement job applicant. We are eager to see this bill become law and have Illinois continue its leadership in these critical reforms to build trust between police and communities of color.”

Sonya Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said, “The police hiring reforms in the Sonya Massey Bill should be law all across the country. We have to stop the ‘good old boy’ hiring process for police and deal with facts. Illinois should be the leader in police reform across the country. I plan to take this proposal to lawmakers in Arkansas where I live and to push for these reforms in every other state across the country.”