Illinois law now requires that prospective police officers approve the release of personal background records in response to last summer’s shooting of Sonya Massey, an unarmed Black woman, in her home by a sheriff’s deputy who had responded to her call for help.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a new law requiring law enforcement agencies to conduct more thorough background checks on prospective officers, following the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by a sheriff's deputy with a history of misconduct.