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The police chief in Arlington Heights has gone on record making a historic change.

Chief Nick Pecora has added “duty to intervene” to the Arlington Heights Police code of conduct.

According to the new rule, any officer observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond reasonable should stop it and then notify a supervisor.

The new order’s text…

Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall, when in a position to do so, safely intercede to prevent the use of such excessive force. Officers shall promptly report these observations and your associated action to a supervisor.

* The Question: Do you think this concept should be a state law? Explain.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:49 pm

Comments

For police, yes (though I’ll be lenient interpreting “safely intervene” given the existence of hotheads like the one who leads the Chicago FOP. No give on reporting though). There are similar duties for other state regulated professions.

Comment by lake county democrat Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:52 pm
Yes, because it’s obvious there are police who need it to be a law in order for them to do the right thing.

Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:54 pm
Good golly it should be part of state law.

What profession isn’t something like this expected where injury or death may be involved. I would guess the IDPR wouldn’t look kindly on a nurse who said ‘Yeah it was obvious that nurse was screwing up, but hey it wasn’t may patient or my responsibility’

Heck, as a football ref this expected of us with our fellow refs, if a guy seems to be getting into it with a player or coach you are expected to step in.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:54 pm
Yes. My next question is, does the supervisor have a duty to report it to the Chief and Mayor?

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:55 pm
We often hear that police are being unfairly punished for simply doing their job. So let’s work to remove any ambiguity around what your job is if you see something like this taking place. A state law would help.

Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:57 pm
Yes.

It’s a shame that this isn’t the law already, with both a civil and criminal penalty for violators. It’ll help move police from their unofficial method of business, brutalize and cover up, towards their stated method of business, protect and serve.

Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:58 pm
Yes. You see it, you own it.

Comment by Langhorne Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 1:58 pm
If excessive force is a violation of the law, and of Constitutional/Civil Rights, and an officer of the law witnesses it- they should be bound by law and oath to uphold the law and protect life. This doesn’t seem complicated.

Comment by West Sider Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:05 pm
Yep.

State law here makes sense, as does seeing something needs others to end the excessive force.

Yes.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:09 pm
Yes.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:12 pm
Love the concept, but is still squishy.

Comment by The Way I See It Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:14 pm
You can put it in the contract, good luck enforcing it. Police officers (three relatives and I work with LEO) and supervisors love unit cohesion and the blue wall of silence is more than a myth.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:15 pm
My general inclination is to say yes … but I would want clear guidelines … but all bets are off if a weapon is deployed by the person being detained.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:16 pm
I don’t think it’s sufficient by itself, but it would help change police culture. Making each officer responsible for policing the other police would make it harder–not impossible, but harder–to maintain the blue wall of silence.

Comment by Benjamin Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:16 pm
Makes sense. Would it not also make sense to have every instance where a police officer makes physical contact with a member of the public subject to a “port mortem” evaluation. I think there would be benefit in training and sort of QAQC process. If it turns out to be a waste of time you can always stop.

Comment by What's in name? Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:19 pm
Stop it? that is too strong. I see a lot of problems being held to that standard for someone else’s conduct as well as actually how to effect that policy.

Telling another police officer to stop it. Yes.
Required reporting. Yes.

Comment by OpentoDiscussion Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:19 pm
Sure. Make them all mandatory reporters like in child abuse. Also make it clear there is a penalty for not intervening. What that penalty should be I don’t know. Still like idea of licensing

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:19 pm
Protecting those who report from retribution and ensuring some system of accountability are needed before any officer is going to calculate it’s in their best interest to follow such a rule.

Comment by Bob Loblaw Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:21 pm
Yes.

Apparently, though, we need to make failure to intervene a class 2 felony to make certain an officer understands that they can be decertified even if they resign before any investigation is finalized.

Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:24 pm
Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall, when in a position to do so, safely intercede to prevent the use of such excessive force. Officers shall promptly report these observations and your associated action to a supervisor.

Or what?

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:27 pm
NO - not as written - ” clearly ” , “objectively
reasonable” , “safely intercede” - taken as a whole ,seems like good guidance ,but NOT Good Statutory Language.

Comment by Red Ketcher Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:31 pm
Uh huh

Comment by Glengarry Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:31 pm
Kind of surprises it’s not already in the law.

Comment by Been There Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:31 pm
Yes. And it would help everyone to also include a duty to report any officer who turns off their body cam.

Comment by phocion Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:37 pm
=== Or what?===

That’s where this whole thing will prove itself.

Does this matter, or is this another hollow example of “moving forward”?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:43 pm
yes. but the key phrase is “force beyond that which is objectively reasonable.” there is wide disagreement and misunderstanding in the public about police use of force. sometimes it seems that some think every person who violates the law will simply go nicely. If you watch videos of police…which people do lately, but often do not watch all video available, just watching a phone grab by a member of the public….you will often see that there is deep resistance to arrest by an arrestee. should a police officer shoot back, or tase back if attacked? We empower police to enforce laws and use reasonable force if necessary. they have to be able to use force if necessary and the public needs to understand that.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:43 pm
I’m willing to say that I don’t know if there is a statewide standard for use of force. If there is, it makes perfect sense. If the standard is different in, say the Springfield Police Dept. and the McLean Co. Sheriff’s Dept., you have to leave it up to the jurisdiction.

Comment by Token Conservative Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 2:53 pm
Yes, but it doesn’t go far enough as just a policy directive. To protect our citizens and Constitutional rights from police criminals, Illinois needs affirmative criminal penalties in state statute that force cops to report all crimes committed by other cops.

If you want to see real reform, look at Colorado, where their governor signed a bill removing qualified immunity from police. With two Dem statehouse chambers and a Dem governor, real police reform with teeth should be a no-brainer in Illnois. What’s the hold-up here?

Comment by Payback Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:05 pm
Officers are under strong peer pressure to ignore violations. Snitches face retaliation, and in a life-or-death emergency, having fellow officers respond slowly because they don’t like the “snitch” is a powerful deterrent to turning in bad cops.

Consequently, some countervailing pressure is necessary, so cops won’t turn a blind eye, or worse, write reports that conform to the narrative of the murderer, which is what happened in the Laquan McDonald case.

Comment by anon2 Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:16 pm
No. Terribly written policy.

Comment by R A T Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:21 pm
Attorneys have Hummel obligations to report misconduct of other attorneys or we risk our own licenses, and generally speaking our work is unlikely to result in people’s deaths.

Comment by Attorney Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:32 pm
Darn it, Hummel. Fat fingers.

Comment by Attorney Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:33 pm
Hell yes, but don’t stop at the State, make it a Federal law that applies to all cops nationwide.

Comment by Nameless Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:41 pm
They swore to enforce the laws in the first place so that would mean they already should be reporting the incident.

So essentially this is just for show.

Comment by The Dude Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 3:42 pm
“[1] observing another officer using force that is that is [2] clearly beyond that which objectively reasonable [3] under the circumstances shall, [4] when in a position to do so, [5] safely intercede to [6] prevent the use of such excessive force”

I agree in concept, but agree with The Way I See It that the language is “squishy” — each of the bracket phrases offers a path to evading what rule intends. Does anyone think LEO’s won’t take advantage of that?

Comment by Flapdoodle Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 4:30 pm
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Ill, Wisc, Ind) imposes civil liability on officers who fail to intervene if they observe a fellow officer violating a person’s civil rights. Any police agency in those states that does not have this as a policy is setting up both their officers, and their departments, for civil money damages.

Comment by should be already Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 4:39 pm
Agree in concept and add something about turning off body cams.

Comment by Original Rambler Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 5:30 pm
George Floyd might have made it to the ER if this common sense procedure was mandatory.

Comment by Practical Politics Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 7:25 pm
Yes, though the language may need a little tightening. And failure to intervene and report should be official misconduct. See 720 ILCS 5/33-3.

Comment by Keyrock Wednesday, Jun 24, 20 @ 11:40 pm