Police and Courts

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.

State Troopers and Woodford County Sheriff's investigators say they have arrested three people for drug induced homicide. The case involved a bus hitting and killing an 18-year old woman on Interstate 39 near Kappa.

Bloomington Police say they have uncovered evidence in a 31-year old cold case murder, though the suspect has died.

The McLean County Coroner has identified the man struck and killed by a train early Monday morning.

Overall crime in the City of Bloomington fell by about seven percent last year. In the Town of Normal it went up about four percent. But, Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner says year to year swings are not a good sign post. Bleichner says the five year trend has Normal down about four percent. He says there are ebbs and flows from year to year.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will appear at a public event next month at the University of Illinois in Champaign. The university's College of Law says she will conduct a wide-ranging hour-long discussion with Professor Robin B. Kar. The March 7 event is free, but tickets are required. Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court in 2009. She is the country's first Hispanic justice.

The Mayor of Normal says the police department in his town has reinvigorated community policing efforts in the last year. Speaking on GLT's Sound Ideas, Chris Koos says the effort can result in better understanding of law enforcement by the general population. "Ideally in the next generation we are going to have more people looking at police as a career," Koos said.

The City of Bloomington is not the only area town looking at a body camera pilot program. Speaking on GLT's Sound Ideas, Mayor Chris Koos says the town of Normal will also do one. "It wouldn't surprise me if we do it cooperatively with the city of Bloomington, so we all have the same equipment," Koos said.

Anyone under 18 caught "vaping" could have to do community service, or pay a fine. Electronic cigarettes don't contain tobacco, but the vaporized solution users inhale does contain nicotine.

Senator Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, says she doesn't consider them safe. Morrison says she'd kept stories about young people puffing on e-cigs. "They were openly and blatantly using these product publicly because there was no reason they shouldn't," she said.

Numbers from Illinois State Police show the agency granted far fewer concealed carry permits statewide in 2015 than in 2014. About 55,500 permits were granted statewide during 2015, compared to about 95,500 in 2014, the first year of the program. But while those numbers are down, the number of objections to applications that were made by law enforcement more than doubled. Police snd state's attorneys raised objections to nearly 11,000 applications statewide in 2015, compared to almost 4,000 in 2014.

Police say the young woman has been located.

A federal jury has convicted a former Chicago official on all counts for taking bribes to steer $100 million in red-light camera contracts to a Phoenix company. Jurors returned with a guilty verdict on all 20 counts this afternoon. They began deliberating Monday.

Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner says the nation's mayors are keenly interested in restoring trust in law enforcement. Speaking on GLT's Sound Ideas, Renner said the idea of community policing was a hot topic at last week's conference of U.S. Mayors, and it's important for the twin cities as well.

He says the community is becoming more diverse with a sizeable Indian population, a growing Latino sector, and a substantial African American part of the community.

A lawsuit brought by panhandlers who say they lose up to $10 a day because authorities bar them from a popular public square in Chicago is set to go to trial. The in Chicago federal court is a rare instance of jurors being asked to decide the issue of panhandlers' rights. The panhandlers say authorities violate their constitutional rights. The defendants include the Cook County Sheriff's Department, whose deputies help with Daley Plaza security. It argues the prohibition at the site outside an Illinois courthouse is justified, including on safety grounds.

A Peoria County judge has ruled that he didn't err when he found a man accused of murder fit for trial four years ago. Edjuan Payne was found guilty of killing Orvette Davis and sentenced to life in prison in 2012. An Illinois appeals court sent Payne's case back to Chief Judge Steve Kouri in April, taking exception with how he ruled Payne was fit for trial. Appellate judges said Kouri relied on the prosecutor and defense attorney saying a report stated Payne was fit, but that judges typically review such evidence themselves.

McLean County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen has resigned saying he does not want his legal troubles to be a distraction to the employees and elected officials of the county. Sorensen turned in a letter shortly before a meeting of the County Executive Committee. In it he said it has been a true pleasure to serve the people. Sorensen is under federal fraud indictment over an alleged false billing scheme involving Sorensen's consulting businesses. County Board Vice Chair John McIntyre says the situation is unfortunate.