Jill Lees is no longer chief of police at IU-Bloomington. What happened?
Indiana University officials heralded Jill Lees' 2019 hiring as chief of police for the Bloomington campus, where she had graduated as a police academy cadet 25 years earlier.
“Our students, staff and faculty on the Bloomington campus will benefit from her commitment to transparency, open-dialogue and clear communication," Benjamin Hunter, IU associate vice president and superintendent for public safety, said back then.
"Her experience and forward-thinking leadership skills make her an outstanding fit for this important position.”
But this week, no one at the Indiana University Police Department would say anything about Lees or her recent departure. They said "no comment." They wouldn't answer questions about why the veteran law enforcement leader is no longer the chief of the police force that oversees nearly 50,000 students in Bloomington.
Lees could not be reached for comment.
"Indiana University does not comment on personnel matters," Barbara Brosher, IU's interim executive director for media relations and editorial content, said in response to email inquiries about Lees' employment status.
Lees' photo and bio are missing from IU Public Safety's staff profile website. Former longtime Bloomington Police Department officer Brad Seifers is listed in the IUPD staff directory as "interim division chief" for the Bloomington campus.
Seifers joined IUPD in 2021 in the role of deputy superintendent to oversee law enforcement operations for all seven IU campuses. He still has that title, and now also the chief's role in Bloomington..
Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt and Hoosier State Press Association Government Relations Specialist Amelia Dieter McClure agree that some public university records relating to employees can be kept confidential.
But whether or not they are open to public view depends on circumstances. For instance, if an employee resigns, the file remains closed. It's different when someone is terminated from a job.
"If the chief was involuntarily discharged, the university would need to provide a factual basis for the action. If it was a voluntary resignation, they would not have to say much," Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said.
He and McClure pointed to Indiana law that says personnel data are typically withheld from public review, but there are exceptions:
The name, compensation, job title, business address, business telephone number.
The job description, education and training background, previous work experience.
Dates of first and last employment.
Information relating to the status of any formal charges against the employee.
The factual basis for a disciplinary action in which final action has been taken and that resulted in the employee being suspended, demoted, or discharged.
"That information," Britt said, "must be produced upon request."
The Herald-Times this week filed a public records request asking IU to provide any information required under the state's public access law.
Britt and McClure weigh in on journalists' concerns and offer legal guidance when publicly funded entities deny requested information. "IU," McClure noted, "is notorious for not complying with APRA (Indiana's Access to Public Records Act) and Open Door laws."
Lees was IUPD's ninth chief; her salary for 2022 was $112,000. Before coming to IU as a division chief, she worked more than two decades as a Plainfield Police Department officer, rising to the job of deputy chief.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Why is Jill Lees no longer chief of police at IU-Bloomington?
