At the start of this year, Illinois police agencies are no longer allowed to investigate their own in-custody deaths or officer-involved shootings. In order to maintain public integrity, agencies like the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department are forming investigative task forces.
Mercer County has entered into an agreement with Henry County and the Illinois State Police to offer investigative assistance and to process major crimes that would threaten to overwhelm individual agency resources.
Mercer County Sheriff David Staley says the formation of the Henry-Mercer Investigative Task Force allows for the effective sharing of resources.
“If, just say for instance, God forbid, tonight, one of my deputies would get involved in an officer-involved shooting, we would be able to get one or two or three personnel from Henry County, one maybe from Kewanee and Geneseo and Colona along with the state police to come in and do the investigation.”
The Aledo Police Department is also included in the Henry-Mercer Investigative Task Force.
