Illinois Emergency Dispatchers will no longer be able to tip off criminals. The Illinois Legislature passed a measure making the practice a crime of “official misconduct,” which covers a wide variety of crimes by public employees – including taking bribes.
The law comes about because of an Illinois Supreme Court case where a police dispatcher was charged with official conduct for tipping off a drug dealer, but the court found her not guilty, because there was nothing in the law that would stop her from alerting the criminal.
The legislation was introduced by State Senator Dave Koehler, who says Illinois residents should be able to trust law enforcement to protect them.