Sonya Massey’s Death Could Have Been Prevented With Better Police Culture, Experts Say

The police shooting death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman in Springfield, Illinois, renewed a call from elected officials for police reform legislation and ignited ongoing demonstrations demanding police accountability nationwide.

Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, who fatally shot Massey, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. But to prevent cases like this from happening in the future, experts argue more pressure needs to be put on law enforcement to change police culture.

“This woman needed help. She was scared. And rather than de-escalate the situation, [Grayson] escalated the situation by pulling out his gun and barking orders,” Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told HuffPost.

“But unfortunately, in some police departments, those tactics are still used,” Wexler continued. “And if we are going to change, if we are going to learn from tragedies like this, we have to not just select different officers but change the tactics they use.”

In 2021, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a criminal justice legislation package that included reforms and accountability for officers. That bill included mandatory training for officers, including use-of-force and de-escalation tactics to prevent or reduce the use of force.

“The unfortunate thing about legislation is that just because it exists does not mean that anyone will abide by it,” said Miltonette Craig, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University.

The 2021 legislation also established a duty to intervene for law enforcement officers in cases where excessive force is exhibited by their partner.

Jillian Snider, a policy director on criminal justice and civil