Evanston Police Complaint Form Violates State Law – Illinois

The Evanston Police Department is imposing police misconduct complaint requirements that quite clearly violate Illinois State law.  The complaint forms and related policies and procedures contain provisions that require the complainant to sign a sworn affidavit, and provide personal information about themselves unrelated to the complaint.

A police complaint form acquired from the City of Evanston website titled “Evanston Police Department Employee Complaint Register” contains the following:

“Verification of complaint allegations: (REQUIRED)

Pursuant to 50 ILCS 725/3.8(b), “Admission; Counsel; Verified Complaint”, anyone filing a complaint against a sworn peace officer must have the complaint supported by a sworn affidavit.”

Evanston seems to be confused about state law.  The Uniform Peace Officers’ Disciplinary Act explicitly states that police complaint forms cannot have any type of “sworn affidavit” requirement:

(50 ILCS 725/3.8) (b) It shall not be a requirement for a person filing a complaint against a sworn peace officer to have the complaint supported by a sworn affidavit or any other legal documentation.

This language was approved by the legislature in early 2021 as part of the SAFE-T Act, and it went into effect more than a year ago.

Evanston’s form also requires complainants to provide personal information, such as their name and home address.  A complainant may wish to do so, but it cannot be “required”.

The Evanston City website states that complaints without the required contact info won’t be treated as complaints: “If we do not have a valid way to contact you, your complaint will be handled as an inquiry, meaning we will look into the matter, but not as a formal complaint and you may not be notified about the findings.”

The City website also corroborates the affidavit requirement: “If you are making a formal complaint against a police officer, you required (sic) to sign the affidavit. Persons filing false complaints are subject to prosecution. Minors under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the affidavit.”

Illinois Police Departments are highly motivated to prevent complaints from being labeled as complaints.  When a complaint is filed, state law requires the police to save body camera video of the incident, and then retain a copy of the complaint indefinitely.  By finding ways to label complaints as “inquiries” or “questions” (a tactic which Check CU has observed with multiple police departments in Illinois) state and local laws and procedures can be quickly side-stepped. 

Administrative trickery doesn’t make it legal.  According to the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police the state law “allows for anonymous complaints against officers, without a sworn affidavit”. 

A copy of the Evanston Police Department Complaint form is provided here: