Police and Courts

Most people get their information about police work from TV but some area residents learned first-hand that even reality shows like “Cops” don’t do justice to real life experiences of officers on patrol every day. That's just some of what was on display the second annual Law Enforcement Educational Summit at Illinois State University Tuesday night.

Some new things could be added to Bloomington’s Administrative Court that are expected to improve the process. The court was established last year to make it easier for the city to enforce property and behavioral code violations. Deputy Corporation Counsel Angela Fyans-Jimenez said the court has been “very successful” since its creation last April.

Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb has fired an officer who was the subject of a series of lawsuits alleging excessive force.

Former McLean County Judge Charles "Chuck" Witte has died at the age of 74 after a lengthy battle battle with cancer. 

Witte, who retired in 2001, was deeply involved in the community, serving BroMenn Healthcare, Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State Universities, the Kiwanis, and many other institutions.

People will be able to get some idea what it's like to be a police officer at an event Saturday April 19th. The second Law Enforcement Education Summit is at Illinois State University's Horton Field House. Bloomington Police Chief Brenden Heffner says the event was so popular in it's inaugural year at the Armory, they are moving it to a bigger space. Chief Heffner says visitors had their favorites among the displays and demonstrations.

The Bloomington Police Department says it can't prove who drove over grave markers and damaged them in connection with a Donald Trump rally. The department says it has declined to file charges in the case.

Police in Normal say an 18 year old man brought a loaded handgun to YouthBuild.

The Bloomington Police Department is launching a private security camera registry as a tool in helping hinder crime and increase public safety.

Citizens and business owners will be able to register their privates cameras, making it easier for the police department to find, and perhaps use, the video footage to help solve crimes.

Officer Sara Mayer of the Bloomington Police Department says no one is being forced to register.  

Two Chicago attorneys appeared Friday morning at a hearing to ask a DeKalb County Judge to release Jack McCullough from prison immediately.

A lawyer for Rod Blagojevich is disappointed the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the imprisoned former Illinois governor's appeal of his remaining corruption convictions, including his attempt to sell the vacant U.S. Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.

An Illinois village faces a lawsuit from two men who say they were targeted during an investigation into the death of a police officer who authorities later determined staged his suicide to appear he was gunned down in the line of duty.

At least 10 law enforcement agencies in Illinois, including South Pekin, have turned to the Internet to raise enough money to purchase body cameras for officers.

Firefighters in Normal are investigating flames that destroyed three Unit Five School buses parked in the transportation center on Eagle road.

One McLean County judge has been suspended without pay for judicial misconduct stemming from his actions in the wake of an extra-marital affair with another judge, who is being censured.

Judge Scott Drazewski will begin his four-month suspension May 1st. Following a Judicial Inquiry Board review, the suspension was handed down against Drazewski and Judge Rebecca Foley was censured. The two began an extra-marital affair in late 2010.

Bloomington police shot a bull as it trotted along Main Street. The bull escaped from a processing facility on Bunn Street and went on the move, through the parking lot of an apartment complex on Tracy Drive. There were children waiting for a school bus and other pedestrians there. When officers approached, the bull it damaged a vehicle and charged an officer. Police say no one was injured, and the meat processor picked up  the carcass.

Illinois lawmakers are considering a proposal that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Instead, people caught with 10 grams or less of cannabis would pay a maximum fine of 200 dollars.

Illinois lawmakers are seeking to give every person leaving prison a state ID.

It took Deangelo Hampton two months to get an ID after he was released from prison.

"They talking about you can use your jail stuff to get state IDs, that’s just a lie. We went through a lot."

A police chase in Normal ended when the man being chased died after apparently shooting himself.

The incident began as an apparent hostage situation when Normal police were called to a residence on Normal Avenue by a woman claiming the man was holding her against her will. When he fled in a vehicle, police chased him until the gunshot rang out inside the vehicle as it stopped on Towanda Avenue near Rowe Drive in Bloomington.

A federal judge is easing travel restrictions during Jesse Jackson Jr.'s supervised release so the ex-congressman can take his children to visit his imprisoned wife more often and see the children's grandparents in Chicago.  

Court documents show the judge signed the order Monday after Jackson's attorneys filed it. The motion says it's burdensome that Jackson and the children are limited to monthly visits with his wife and unable to visit Chicago family, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson.  

Bloomington City Manager David Hales will present a $207 million budget to the city council Monday. The plan eliminates a structural deficit, projected at $7.5 million from last year.

The father of a 21-year-old Carbondale woman killed in a 2012 shooting has won a legal ruling to obtain photographs related to her death. The Illinois Attorney General's Office has ordered Illinois State Police to provide Larry Young with photos from its investigation of his daughter Molly's death at the home of her ex-boyfriend, a former Carbondale police dispatcher. Molly Young's case remains open after a special prosecutor couldn't determine whether a single gunshot to her head was an accident, suicide or homicide.

Bradley University has chosen a 24-year U.S. Army veteran to be the campus' new crime prevention officer. Nathan Hayes says he's quickly adjusting to his new job. The school named Haynes to the position earlier this month as part of an effort to strengthen relationships between students at the Peoria campus and the police. Haynes says police should let people know officers are there to help, not harass. Haynes is originally from Oneida. He was in the Army before he came to Bradley in 2014 as a patrol officer.