IL - Sonya Massey Shot To Death In Her Own Home by Sangamon County Deputy After Calling to Report a Prowler, Springfield 6 July 2024

[Marantz4250b]

And how exactly is Sonya's family meant to respond to that?

They have an excellent case for compensation from the department for hiring this man. But if they don't respond with forgiveness, they'll be seen as being the uncivil ones.

This is an incredibly manipulative statement by the police, IMO.

Were I in their position I wouldn't be in a forgiving sort of mood. Their incompetence - or straight out not giving a s**t got someone killed. They don't deserve forgiveness.

 

[tlcya]

But you could put them on leave while the process goes through the courts. With pay, of course.

I think that is the point, the union wants him to be on paid leave until he's been adjudicated as guilty of the charges against him. Their point is he is only accused and therefore should not have been terminated but placed on paid leave.

I am here to tell you if that happens I worry for my community. Things have been peaceful as people act to make their voices heard through protests, marches, vigils, meetings. If Grayson is placed on paid leave, tax payers money, paying for his defense basically through that pay, I worry things will not stay peaceful. It will be seen as a final insult to the grave injury that has already been done to the trust we should all be able to have in our law enforcement. this is JMO as a local.

 

[tlcya]

wow...has the interview with Sean Grayson from CBS News been posted here, from 20 months ago? When he was being discharged from a different department.

Audio recordings: Officer Sean Grayson had disciplinary issues before he shot Sonya Massey

Audio recordings obtained by CBS News reveal that almost two years prior to the shooting of Sonya Massey in her Springfield, Illinois home, deputy Sean Grayson was reprimanded for putting false information in his police reports. He was then working for the Logan County (Ill.) Sheriff's office...

www.cbsnews.com

The officer interviewing him said, "Do you understand what i am saying? And i've had this conversation with you before. if we can't trust what you say and what you see, we can't have you in our uniform. I'm calling you on your integrity. How does that make you feel?"

MOO - this seems to be a huge failure in process and communication between departments. We have so much technology these days, they should be able to have a central database for hiring...I'm sure it would make staffing much easier too!

I kind of feel like by putting Grayson on notice that he may be fired from Lincoln, they allowed him to go seek employment with Sangamon and thereby resign from Lincoln's force without blemish and recycle into Sangamon County's department. This kind of thing needs to be ended. This recycling of bad cops.

I don't know the answer but I sure am asking lots of questions because that is the only way we find them.

 

[tlcya]

“(Sonya Massey) called for help and we failed,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell told a community meeting at a church in Springfield about the July 6 shooting.

“We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community,” Campbell said.

“I stand here today before you, with arms wide open, and I ask for your forgiveness. I ask Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness. I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better. To be better,” he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/us/sonya-massey-shooting-community-meeting-sheriff/index.html

Campbell asked for forgiveness. Not everyone was in a forgiving mood. Some called for his firing. Others say he should be voted out of office in the next election in 2026.

"I don't understand how you hire a volcano and don't expect it to erupt," said one attendee.

The sheriff said he has no plans to leave the department at such a critical time.
Sheriff Jack Campbell admits failure in Sonya Massey case, says he won't resign

The listening session devolved into chaos after about an hour and a half, with attendees claiming it would have no effect on anything. Shortly before the event ended, one man called out pastor T. Ray McJunkins, saying his Union Baptist Church, which hosted Monday’s session, has done nothing for Black people.

The Massey family and its attorney, noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, are scheduled to hold a news conference and rally Tuesday evening in Chicago to respond to a police labor organization’s call for Grayson to be reinstated with back pay. Also scheduled to participate: Rev. Al Sharpton.
Campbell won’t resign - Capitol City Now

 

[Marantz4250b]

Campbell asked for forgiveness. Not everyone was in a forgiving mood. Some called for his firing. Others say he should be voted out of office in the next election in 2026.

"I don't understand how you hire a volcano and don't expect it to erupt," said one attendee.

The sheriff said he has no plans to leave the department at such a critical time.
Sheriff Jack Campbell admits failure in Sonya Massey case, says he won't resign

The listening session devolved into chaos after about an hour and a half, with attendees claiming it would have no effect on anything. Shortly before the event ended, one man called out pastor T. Ray McJunkins, saying his Union Baptist Church, which hosted Monday’s session, has done nothing for Black people.

The Massey family and its attorney, noted civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, are scheduled to hold a news conference and rally Tuesday evening in Chicago to respond to a police labor organization’s call for Grayson to be reinstated with back pay. Also scheduled to participate: Rev. Al Sharpton.
Campbell won’t resign - Capitol City Now

Absolutely farcical from both sides; we have a Sheriff who's basically claiming he's blameless and won't resign even though it appears that he's hired a complete psychopath as a deputy; on the other side of the rift we have opportunist "civil rights campaigners" jumping on the bandwagon arranging demonstrations and who knows what else when all the evidence is pointing in the opposite direction to it being anything to do with race/ethnicity culture in any form.

We've heard his backstory and he has a history of being violent, aggressive and a bully - not to mention several instances of actual criminal offending. I'm not seeing any evidence that he shot her because of the colour of her skin. She just happened to be in front of him when he lost his temper. She could have been anyone, quite frankly.

 

[tlcya]

Absolutely farcical from both sides; we have a Sheriff who's basically claiming he's blameless and won't resign even though it appears that he's hired a complete psychopath as a deputy; on the other side of the rift we have opportunist "civil rights campaigners" jumping on the bandwagon arranging demonstrations and who knows what else when all the evidence is pointing in the opposite direction to it being anything to do with race/ethnicity culture in any form.

We've heard his backstory and he has a history of being violent, aggressive and a bully - not to mention several instances of actual criminal offending. I'm not seeing any evidence that he shot her because of the colour of her skin. She just happened to be in front of him when he lost his temper. She could have been anyone, quite frankly.

I don't disagree with you in that Grayson was a loose canon, ready to go off on whoever, wherever, and Sonya's death probably has little if anything to do with her race. She was simply the one unfortunate to be in his path when he decided to play big bad cop.

However, I do understand that marginalized people are viewing this very differently. They are viewing it as yet another example of society showing them that they don't matter as much as others. That they are viewed as more expendable and that this case is yet another example of what they view as a systemic problem. The Rev. Sharpton, while I am not a fan, is capitalizing on the viral nature of this case in order to further that larger agenda of protesting inequalities in treatment of people of color by LE.

As a person who is not a person of color, I can't speak to the experience of those others. I could care less what Al and other leaders do. So long as they don't show up in my town sowing discord. I am really proud of how our community has united over this case and hope nothing happens to destroy that unity. JMO

Still standing with Sonya while praying for continued peace.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I kind of feel like by putting Grayson on notice that he may be fired from Lincoln, they allowed him to go seek employment with Sangamon and thereby resign from Lincoln's force without blemish and recycle into Sangamon County's department. This kind of thing needs to be ended. This recycling of bad cops.

I don't know the answer but I sure am asking lots of questions because that is the only way we find them.

national database. I understand all departments operate independently, but there needs to be a national database for bad cops, plain and simple.

 

[tlcya]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois FOP Labor Council decided against pursuing reinstatement of the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy accused of murdering Sonya Massey.

Sangamon County officials confirmed Friday they had received a grievance form from the FOP union to reinstate Sean Grayson, the Sangamon County Deputy who shot Sonya Massey in the head earlier this month. While the union initially defended the grievance as part of their standard procedure, after finalizing their internal process, they announced they will not continue with the grievance.
https://www.wcia.com/top-stories/il...ry-to-reinstate-deputy-who-shot-sonya-massey/

amen!

 

[airportwoman]

Getting hired again as a cop? This guy should only be hired for making license plates, KWIM?

 

[Kaley Smith]

national database. I understand all departments operate independently, but there needs to be a national database for bad cops, plain and simple.

I have a friend in law enforcement, and she's said the problem is the police unions in the US are so strong it makes it very hard to move out the bad ones.

 

[PrairieWind]

national database. I understand all departments operate independently, but there needs to be a national database for bad cops, plain and simple.

A big question about this is how would it be done? Who runs it? who participates? I don't know that you could force departments to participate.

 

[tlcya]

Scarlette, whose department won almost universal praise from council members, said he and his officers "will bear the shame and the guilt for what a fellow law enforcement officer did in our community."

"(Massey) was senselessly murdered by a person who wears a uniform that is similar to this, by a person who wears a badge similar to mine, by a person who swore to uphold the same oath that I did and because of that, I'm mad," admitted Scarlette, capping the public comment section. "I'm extremely frustrated. I'm embarrassed, I'm ashamed that this person would ever call himself a law enforcement officer."
Springfield residents seek reform as police chief speaks out after Sonya Massey shooting

statements from Springfield Police Chief about former Sangamon County Sheriff deputy Grayson and how his actions have adversely affected all LEOs, not just the sheriff's department.

 

[tlcya]

At least two Sangamon County Board members have now publicly asked Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign.
[snip]
Tony DelGiorno and Marc Ayers, both Democrats on the Republican-dominated board, called on Campbell, who has been sheriff since 2018, to step down.
Two Sangamon County Board members call on sheriff to resign in wake of Massey shooting

 

[branmuffin]

I think that is the point, the union wants him to be on paid leave until he's been adjudicated as guilty of the charges against him. Their point is he is only accused and therefore should not have been terminated but placed on paid leave.

I am here to tell you if that happens I worry for my community. Things have been peaceful as people act to make their voices heard through protests, marches, vigils, meetings. If Grayson is placed on paid leave, tax payers money, paying for his defense basically through that pay, I worry things will not stay peaceful. It will be seen as a final insult to the grave injury that has already been done to the trust we should all be able to have in our law enforcement. this is JMO as a local.

While I agree with you regarding the perception of continuing to pay a person charged with a serious crime, at this moment in time, it is still just a charge. The evidence weighs heavily against his innocence but he is still entitled to a trial and presumed innocent until that time.

I used to work for a major police force in Canada and on occasion officers would be charged for a myriad reasons: DUI, theft, covering up evidence, assault, especially DV, etc. and every single one of them were on LWP until the case was heard and the verdict came in. Depending on the severity of the crime, they could be dismissed, experience a reduction in rank, pay fines in the form of reduced pay, put on probation or sent to prison.

I think we forget, when it comes to court cases and crimes committed by LE members, officers are treated like the general public. They are not in the military. There's no tribunal. Most people charged with a crime rarely get fired by their employer, especially if it's something like DUI, DV, impairment while working, etc. They get probation. Or they get sent to rehab or counselling. If the crime is against the company they'll get fired; if the crime is egregious they go to prison.

But as civilians we see LE as people who should be above suspicion of committing crimes and the fact they are actually hired to keep the peace, the crimes are more concerning because of the elevated status they enjoy in the community. A status they abuse sometimes and because of the power of the unions.

 

[Mack the Knife]

Scarlette, whose department won almost universal praise from council members, said he and his officers "will bear the shame and the guilt for what a fellow law enforcement officer did in our community."

"(Massey) was senselessly murdered by a person who wears a uniform that is similar to this, by a person who wears a badge similar to mine, by a person who swore to uphold the same oath that I did and because of that, I'm mad," admitted Scarlette, capping the public comment section. "I'm extremely frustrated. I'm embarrassed, I'm ashamed that this person would ever call himself a law enforcement officer."
Springfield residents seek reform as police chief speaks out after Sonya Massey shooting

statements from Springfield Police Chief about former Sangamon County Sheriff deputy Grayson and how his actions have adversely affected all LEOs, not just the sheriff's department.

[BBM]

I think as far as "reaction" goes, the local law enforcement departments have been handling this pretty well. But Grayson was "calling himself a law enforcement officer" because he factually was one. Because he was hired to be one, several times.

This is not the first time we've heard of a LEO with a record of disciplinary problems, bouncing from department to department, and I'm sure there are plenty more out there with records just as ugly as Grayson's. There may even be some in the Springfield Police Department.

What is Chief Scarlette doing to make sure there aren't? I'm glad he's embarrassed and ashamed about this, and openly expressing as much. I'd be even more glad if he shared policies his department has to make sure someone like Grayson wouldn't get hired at Springfield PD or recommended for hire somewhere else, showing a model for what other local law enforcement departments can do.

 

[tlcya]

[BBM]

I think as far as "reaction" goes, the local law enforcement departments have been handling this pretty well. But Grayson was "calling himself a law enforcement officer" because he factually was one. Because he was hired to be one, several times.

This is not the first time we've heard of a LEO with a record of disciplinary problems, bouncing from department to department, and I'm sure there are plenty more out there with records just as ugly as Grayson's. There may even be some in the Springfield Police Department.

What is Chief Scarlette doing to make sure there aren't? I'm glad he's embarrassed and ashamed about this, and openly expressing as much. I'd be even more glad if he shared policies his department has to make sure someone like Grayson wouldn't get hired at Springfield PD or recommended for hire somewhere else, showing a model for what other local law enforcement departments can do.

your point is well made, SPD isn't without a history of it's own.

a 2022 incident that happened under Chief Scarlett's watch.
Springfield police officer responsible for posting racist remarks resigns

 

[branmuffin]

I kind of feel like by putting Grayson on notice that he may be fired from Lincoln, they allowed him to go seek employment with Sangamon and thereby resign from Lincoln's force without blemish and recycle into Sangamon County's department. This kind of thing needs to be ended. This recycling of bad cops.

I don't know the answer but I sure am asking lots of questions because that is the only way we find them.

If LE can have a data base like CODIS, there's no reason why they can't have one for cops who are hired, fired, and hired again. A red flag, if you will, for future forces looking to hire. Include the reason why they were fired. It's the only way to root out these people. IMO, these cops are a type of criminal, who use the laxness of oversight nationally to formally identify bad cops, to their advantage. They are no different from criminals like organized car theft rings, computer hackers who drain your bank account or serial killers who focus on vulnerable individuals like hookers to pick their victim. In many ways they are worse because society is programmed to see LE as benevolent individuals who work to keep the peace.

 

[tlcya]

07/19/2024	Entry of Appearance Filed by Defendant's Attorney: DANIEL FULTZ
07/24/2024	Extended Media Coverage - Notice of Request Filed by Extended Media Coverage - Denied for Trial/Proceeding Signed Judge: CADAGIN Entry of Appearance Filed by Defendant's Attorney: BRIAN SEXTON Entry of Appearance Filed by Defendant's Attorney: BRIAN SEXTON

it's looking like Judge Cadagin will not be allowing media coverage in the courtroom for the trial. This is the second extended media coverage request that he has denied. Not sure if that will mean no press period or simply no video taping or photographing.

for those who want to follow the docket it is case no. 2024-CF-000909 and can be found here: Disclaimer