South Cook News

The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected a Fraternal Order of Police request to destroy Chicago Police Department disciplinary records.

In an opinion rendered this summer, the state's high court said no to a police union request to do away with records five years after the date of the incident or discovery of the incident based on their contention that their collective bargaining agreement with the City of Chicago called for such measures.

Supporters of the ruling insist it paves the way for much greater transparency in a city long known for police misconduct scandals and during a time of a growing national cry for police reform.

In Chicago, the current contract between the city and the police union includes the provision: “all disciplinary investigation files, disciplinary history card entries, IPRA and IAD disciplinary records, and any other disciplinary record or summary of such record other than records related to Police Board cases, will be destroyed five years after the date of the incident or the date upon which the violation is discovered, whichever is longer.”

In the ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court established the enforcement of section 8.4 defies state law establishing “a well-defined public policy favoring the proper retention of important public records for access by the public.”

It all translates to mean the union will now find it harder to hide police misconduct once five years have passed.

Finally, the high court rendered that it “will not enforce a collective-bargaining agreement that is repugnant to established norms of public policy.”