Deputy Sean Grayson's misconduct should have raised red flags in Illinois law enforcement long before he applied at the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office, say police accountability and legal experts who reviewed multiple internal misconduct investigations involving Grayson, including a dropped criminal case with non-existent evidence and the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, The Intercept reports. A new investigation shows that Grayson falsely claimed to have a warrant and evidence against a defendant, Kyle Adkins, leading to a two-year case that was eventually dropped. Experts say that instances of dishonesty or questions about Grayson’s credibility should have been reported to state authorities and documented for future background investigators. Documenting his problems could have prevented the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office from hiring him in May 2023.
Reforms had been implemented, but they did not work the way they were intended, to stop Grayson from continually landing new law-enforcement jobs across central Illinois and continuing his string of misconduct. The state’s new discretionary decertification system, which makes it easier to strip officers of their ability to work in policing, went into effect in July 2022 but has been hampered by delays, according to a May 2024 report by Impact for Equity. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus were responsible for the passage of the SAFE-T Act, which reformed Illinois’ police certification system for the first time in decades. Authorities in several police agencies that documented Grayson’s misconduct internally did not report the problems to the state, as required, or to Grayson’s future employers. After Grayson left Kincaid for a different sheriff’s office, a supervisor felt he lied on a report about a dangerous chase - but the department cleared him of misconduct and didn't report his dishonesty to the state. Those same officials never even interviewed a female detainee who said that Grayson had been inappropriate with her at the county jail and a local hospital. None of the existing accountability mechanisms prevented Grayson from landing new jobs in other jurisdictions.
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