Police recruits get an up-close lesson in how to avoid wrongful convictions

Apr. 1—URBANA — At 17, Terrill Swift was just starting to figure out what to do with his life.

Little did he know that in the spring of 1995, when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit, his calling was taking shape.

"It changed my life," Swift said of his wrongful conviction for the rape and murder of a 30-year-old woman in Englewood, near Chicago.

One of the so-called "Englewood Four," Swift spent 15 years behind bars before DNA evidence exonerated him and three other young men. He had already completed his sentence and was on parole when their convictions were vacated in late 2011.

The man ultimately convicted of the crime spent fewer years behind bars than he did, Swift noted.

Now 45, married with three daughters, and living in California, Swift and his wife work in the real-estate industry. Their careers were no doubt aided by a $7.7 million settlement in 2017 from the city of Chicago for the treatment he received from a handful of Chicago police investigators.

While he enjoys real estate, Swift said his "passion" is sharing his story so that it doesn't happen to others.

On Friday, he took part in a historic moment in Illinois police training — the first-ever mandated class for police cadets on "wrongful conviction awareness and avoidance."

Swift was one of 15 exonerees from around the country to watch the training at an Urbana hotel and share their experiences with about 80 men and women on the cusp of starting careers in law enforcement.

"This model is groundbreaking in police training, not only in Illinois but also throughout the country," said Mike Schlosser, director of the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois, one of a handful of police training academies around the state.

Schlosser, a retired Rantoul police officer who has earned several degrees, helped develop the course material for the avoidance of wrongful convictions with administrators for the Illinois Innocence Project.

That organization, formed in 2001 at the University of Illinois Springfield, provides free legal work to wrongfully convicted men and women with credible claims of innocence and currently has about 45 active cases.

However, Schlosser has been teaching it as an elective at PTI for about seven years. He was among those who lobbied the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board to make the training mandatory.

Friday was the first time the four-hour block of instruction was delivered as part of the 16 weeks of basic training that police recruits receive.

"We do 2 1/2 hours of attorneys talking about common pitfalls that can lead to wrongful convictions, how big of a problem it is. Then an exoneree shares his story," said Marcus Beach, director of wrongful conviction training with the Innocence Project.

Just last month, Beach retired from the Rantoul police department after 27 years of service. For seven of those years, he was a detective. After being nudged by Schlosser to get into the wrongful conviction avoidance training, Beach said he took the course in November.

"That was all it took for me to recognize the importance of this class," Beach said.

"No law enforcement officer ever enters a career wanting to do ill. Learning early on how to conduct investigations and how not to be led down paths that can lead to wrongful convictions" is the goal of the training, Beach said.

Stephanie Kamel, co-director of the Illinois Innocence Project, said there was bipartisan support among legislators for mandating training for recruits on how to avoid wrongful convictions.

"They were thrilled," said Kamel, who formerly worked full-time as an attorney, doing both civil litigation and work for the office of the State Appellate Defender. She's been with the Innocence Project since 2019.

"This has been a long-time coming," she said.

"Law enforcement and the Illinois Innocence Project share a common goal — to seek the truth. No one wants to see the wrong person imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. No one wants the actual perpetrator to go free. Police officers, on the front line of the criminal justice system, can play an important role in preventing this from happening," Kamel said.

And the exonerees play a critical role in sensitizing the rookies to issues such as tunnel vision, false confessions, and witness misidentification.

"This is a big step in terms of reform," said Swift, who said the police should not be "defunded" but rather "informed."

"We're here for a reason, not to hold onto the pain but to make change from the pain. I'm here today to teach. Let's not have this keep happening."

Swift, who describes himself as spiritual, said he went into custody as a 110-pound, 17-year-old, "scared as (expletive)" and "made it through my entire time without any problems."

That included 3 1/2 years in the Cook County Jail waiting for trial, then more time in Menard. He took advantage of educational opportunities, receiving certificates in culinary arts, building maintenance, and horticulture and received an associate's degree in general studies.

"My prayer was always, 'God, you are the only one who knows I'm innocent,'" he said, believing God was the reason he was never hurt and the reason he's able to talk about the experience now.