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Januar y 18, 2016 • $1.0 0
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LOOKING UP
HERALD By IVAN MORENO The Associated Press
See POLICE, page A2
AP file photo
State Rep. Art Turner, a Chicago Democrat, listens May 15 on the House floor at the Capitol in Springfield. Turner introduced legislation in December suggesting a judge be the first stop in determining whether a video involving police use of force should be released to the public, removing the power from law-enforcement agencies to make that determination on their own.
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Farmers look to help monarch
SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY PRACTICES TO CHANGE
New federal initiative to save the iconic butterfly By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Illustration by R. Scott Helmchen – shelmchen@shawmedia.com
SPRINGFIELD – The yearlong delay before the release of a video showing a white Chicago police officer fatally shooting a black teenager has Illinois lawmakers facing the same question before many states: As officers’ dashboards and body cameras capture more police encounters with the public, how much access to the videos should there be under open-records laws? It’s a challenge for government officials who have to weigh the public’s increasing appetite to monitor how police officers do their job with law enforcement’s desire to protect the privacy of victims shown in videos and the integrity of pending investigations. In Illinois, some legislators want a judge to be the first stop in determining whether a video involving police use of force should be released to the public, removing the power from law enforcement agencies to make that determination on their own. “We’re saying, ‘Go to the judge to issue a protective order.’ Otherwise, it should be released under the normal [open records] guidelines,” said Rep. Art Turner, a Chicago Democrat who introduced the proposal last month with the intent of restoring “public confidence in the process and the way these police shootings are handled.” The bill was spurred by the killing of 17-yearold Laquan McDonald in October 2014, which was captured by a Chi-
cago police cruiser’s dashcam, but the video wasn’t made public until November – and only after a judge’s order. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder the day of the video’s release. Already, Turner’s bill has bipartisan support from 16 lawmakers who have signed on as co-sponsors. It would apply to dashcams and officer-worn body cameras, which are being more widely used around the country as fatal police interactions with citizens, especially African-American boys and men, come under greater scrutiny in the last 18 months. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have laws addressing body cameras, 16 of which passed in 2015, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The majority deal with guidance on how to use the cameras, but only 10 put the videos under the umbrella of state’s open-records laws. In California, one of five states that require the cameras, the recordings aren’t covered under the open-records law. New Jersey requires either dashcams or officer-worn cameras but doesn’t address whether the footage can be released. In North Carolina, Greensboro police use body cameras, but the recordings are sealed because they’re considered part of the officer’s personnel file. That’s because the footage is used to evaluate an officer’s performance.
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Police video laws under state debate
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DISCUSSING
DISCIPLINE McHenry County schools must comply with new law by September By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com Corey Tafoya of Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 thinks some language changes could be made to the student handbook’s section on disciplinary practices. “I think what will be altered are the descriptions,” said Tafoya, assistant superintendent for educational services. “The part that says, ‘If you do this, this is [the consequence].’ ” A new law that went into effect in August has Tafoya and other area school officials thinking about how discipline is carried out and what aspects might have to change by a September 2016 deadline. Senate Bill 100 includes a multitude of requirements, but essentially moves to limit exclusionary discipline – such as out-of-school suspensions and expulsions – by laying out specific ground rules for when districts can issue certain punishments, while also asserting that aspects should be viewed on a case-by-case basis. Specifically, it breaks down requirements districts will have to meet in order to give out an out-of-school suspension of three days or less, or more than three days, and instances of longer suspensions have to come with support services. Districts also will have to adopt a parent-teacher advisory committee, re-engagement policies for students who were suspended, and cannot have zero-tolerance policies. Like District 155, at least a couple local districts have initiated or have plans to initiate legal work to determine what changes need to be made. “We’re working right now with our attorneys to make sure our policies and procedures in place are in line with SB 100,” said George Oslovich, District 200’s assistant superintendent for middle and high school education. “While we need to do some tweaking, we’re pleased with the initial report – that what we currently
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We’re working right now with our attorneys to make sure our policies and procedures in place are in line with SB 100. While we need to do some tweaking, we’re pleased with the initial report – that what we currently have is kind of in line.” George Oslovich
District 200 assistant superintendent for middle and high school education have is kind of in line.” In an email, Brian Coleman, superintendent of Cary Community Consolidated School District 26, also described his district’s current practices as being similar to what will be required. Still, like District 155, he said the main policy change will be the limits of how many days students can be suspended for an incident. “We will also have to be more descriptive in the notice that goes to parents regarding the reasons and measure used prior to issuing the discipline,” Coleman wrote. In 2014-15, District 26 had a suspension rate of about 1.5 percent. Steve Scarfe, principal of Crystal Lake District 47’s North Elementary, said the law will cause administrators to put more of a focus on treating each individual case separately, while further applying whatever context and circumstances surround the involved students.
WOODSTOCK – McHenry County farmers are considering how they can help the dwindling monarch butterfly population in light of a new federal initiative to save the iconic butterfly. Illinois is one of 10 states included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to aid in the conservation of monarchs by distributing $4 million to preserve and rebuild habitat along the butterfly’s multi-generational migration pattern from Mexico to Canada. The money will go toward helping farmers and other partners plant milkweed and nectar-rich plants along field borders, in pastures and along waterways. The population of the black-andorange butterflies has been slashed by more than half over the past two decades, according to advocacy group Monarch Watch. Part of the problem, the USDA said, is the loss of milkweed, which is the sole food for monarch larva, and also a source of nectar for adults. Agriculture has played a leading role in the monarch’s habitat loss, which officials said has been the greatest in the Midwest. McHenry County Farm Bureau Manager Dan Volkers said during a meeting with various agriculture and conservation groups in December that officials questioned whether it would make sense for farmers to turn some of their acres into land that would support monarchs and other pollinators. “We’re talking about people that have smaller parcels,” Volkers said. “So people who would be in a master gardener property who would be able to put in a seed mix. We are talking about what sort of possibilities are there and if we could make those opportunities free for people who are interested.” Volkers also pointed to the McHenry County Conservation District’s large holdings, and the agency’s program to lease farmland with the stipulation renters maintain field borders. “We have a lot of conservation in place through the public and the private,” Volkers said. Meanwhile, it’s unclear whether any money will make its way to McHenry County. Ellen Starr, a Princeton-based biologist with the National Resource Conservation Service and point person for Illinois’ program, said officials have yet to finalize many details, including which areas will have priority. Starr said she hopes to have the materials ready to present to farmers and other groups by late spring. “This is the first year, of many hopefully, that we have money for the monarch initiative,” Starr said.
See DISCIPLINE, page A3
INSIDE: What are some of the challenges the new school discipline law faces? Page A3
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