As police-involved deaths continue to draw national attention, people began to question Elgin’s ruling on use of force in the community. 

Five years following George Floyd’s death ignited unprecedented police reform. Police departments in Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, and Chicago have largely converged on reforms such as officers intervening against excessive force and chokehold bans in May, 2020.   

“We make split second decisions on how to handle someone that’s trying to hurt or kill us. You have to be alert,” Stacy Bellack said, an officer with the Elgin Police Department (EPD).

Section 1.16.000 of The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Justice manual (JM), permits law enforcement officers use-of-force when ‘objectively reasonable’ and necessary to gain control of an incident. 

The correspondence from the Department of Homeland Security (DOH) claimed proceeding with force “requires careful attention to the facts and circumstances of each particular case.”

In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. (1989), claims of officers using force must be evaluated under the Fourth Amendment’s “reasonableness standard” as stated by the Supreme Court. 

According to Bellack, all claims of officers using force must be reported to the FBI National Use-of-Force database. 

“A lot of the time, we use physical force to grab them—usually by their arms and legs, so we can put them on a stretcher,” Bellack said. “We don’t do chokeholds. There are tactics of control we can use without harming them, like jiu jitsu.” 

The Integrating, Communications, Assessments, and Tactics (ICAT), is a common  critical training guide used at the Elgin Police Department, according to Bellack. 

“Scenario-based training ensures that officers are using force responsibly,” she said. 

In accordance with ICE national detention standards and policy, ICE employs a multilayered, interagency approach when a detained alien passes away in ICE custody. 

Each facility must maintain written protocol in accordance with the ICE detainee death policy. 

2025 marked as the deadliest year for ICE detention centers in over two decades—with 32 reported deaths under official the ICE Detainee Death Report.

In 2026, a 7-month span, training shortened from 72 to 50 days according to an unnamed ICE agent.

In an email statement, a DHS spokesperson from an ICE field office in Chicago described law enforcement as ‘heroes’ to most Americans, noting that they risk their lives to apprehend violent offenders, ‘including murderers, gang members, and terrorists.’

“Our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them,” they said;, “including a 1,300% increase in assaults, 8,000% increase in death threats, and a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks.”

The Illinois SAFE-T Act under House Bill 3695, mandates that law enforcement must intervene against excessive force to provide medical aid. 

“If a suspect has a gun, you have every right to use deadly force,” Bellack said. “If you want to harm yourself or somebody else, it’s different—there are a few different factors.”

“Our dispatch is really helpful too,” Bellack said. “If we’re going to a house that we’ve had prior contacts with, we go in prepared.” 

Officers heavily rely on dispatch for critical, real-time information when coordinating incidents. 

Bellack affirmed that departments set a bar higher than the minimal “objectively reasonable” standard required by the Supreme Court, but gaps still exist in densely populated areas. 

DeCynthia Clements, a 34 year old black woman, was shot and killed on westbound I-90 highway on March 12, 2018, by Elgin Police officer Lieutenant Christian Jensen.

Police reported that Clements brandished a knife and set her car on fire. Upon stepping out of her car, she was fatally shot three times.  

The Illinois State Police investigated, and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office did not file charges. 

Lieutenant Jensen declined for an interview. 

“We look for legal grounds to petition someone and if they really don’t want to go, we can take them into custody,” Bellack said. “I want my backup to help me so I can go home at the end of the day.”