Corrupt Robins Chief of police caught on camera that he forgot was recording not only violating rights but also in jaw dropping fashion breaking the law.
This started when an independent transparency auditor/ journalist named James walked into a public clinic in Robbins, Illinois to exercise his first amendment rights to film in a public space and to legally file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Instead of accepting the paperwork, Acting Police Chief Carl Scott Sr. claimed FOIA requests couldn't be filed in person. When James refused to stop filming his public interaction, Chief Scott slapped him in cuffs and arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Once the judge saw the clip he threw out the case. Upon the end of the court case, James went to the Robins PD to file a formal complaint against the chief. The Chief came out saying his officer need James ID because they were going to cite him with a nuisance citation.
When James stood on his FourthAmendment rights to not give his ID because he broke no laws, things turned ugly. James was dragged into the back interrogation room where the video even though it had no sound speaks for itself.
After the event in the interrogation room an investigation quickly opened up, the details got significantly worse. During the arrest, James's cell phone suddenly vanished. It was later revealed in court that Chief Scott had actually swiped the phone, walked outside the station, and dropped it straight down a city street sewer to destroy the footage. Investigators literally had to fish it out of the muck.
Knowing the writing was on the wall, Mayor Darren Bryant moved to terminate the chief, but Scott resigned just before he could be officially fired.
The legal hammer eventually dropped hard:
Scott pleaded guilty to criminal misdemeanor battery.
He was sentenced to two years of probation.
The state officially revoked his law enforcement certificate, permanently banning him from ever working as a police officer again.
You’d think a violent misconduct conviction and a permanent ban from policing would be the end of a public career. Instead, Scott pivoted to local politics and was elected to a 4-year term on the school board for Matteson Elementary School District 159, eventually rising to become the board's Vice President.
When local news outlets finally obtained and aired the bodycam footage of Scott putting hands on a citizen, local parents were utterly furious. Packed, emotional school board meetings followed, with parents demanding his immediate resignation from a board tasked with protecting young children.
Despite the intense community backlash, Scott dug his heels in. He openly refused to resign, claiming he had already "accepted accountability" via his probation and that his law enforcement background made him an asset.
Because school boards have incredibly narrow legal avenues under Illinois law to forcibly remove an elected public official, their hands were tied. In a tense, split 4–3 vote, the board took the maximum legal action they could: they stripped him of his title as Vice President, but they could not kick him off the board entirely.
To this day, a convicted former police chief banned from law enforcement still holds a seat on that school board.
What do you think? Should elected officials automatically lose their seats if hit with a violent misdemeanor conviction, or should the voters have to wait out their term?
Is situation like this that destroy the faith in law enforcement in communities. One bad apple destroying the bunch.
An ENTIRE FAMILY was BURNED TO DEATH after an IDF air strikes hit a residential apartment west of Gaza City.
The names of the 5 family members:
Manar Ibrahim Labed
Hassan Rabah Labed
Mohammed Hassan Labed
Rafah Hassan Labed
Tamim Hassan Labed
Im at a loss for words at how many times we have seen this happen and the world allows it to happen again and again
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