City Of Joliet Releases Statement On May 31 Protest Confrontations, Begins Third-Party Investigation

Press release from the City of Joliet:

Many in the community have seen or heard of two videos released by members of the public that involve a confrontation between the Mayor of Joliet, members of the Joliet Police Department and several individuals during the evening of May 31.

The investigation of the incidents has been referred to the Illinois State Police for an independent and transparent review. The City of Joliet and Joliet Police Department supports and will cooperate with this review.

In order to fully evaluate the separate actions of Police Department personnel in responding to the incident, the City will be retaining an outside firm to conduct an internal investigation of the matter. The outside assessment is intended to provide an independent and objective review to determine what occurred and to determine if Joliet Police Department policies and procedures were followed by our personnel.

Over the past week the nation has been focused upon the unfortunate and unjust actions of several law enforcement personnel in Minnesota. While we believe our organizational culture would not allow this to happen in Joliet, we have a responsibility to the community to assess the May 31 incident and ensure our response was in keeping with established norms.

This press release was produced by the City of Joliet. The views expressed here are the author’s own.