Are cops subject to safe storage?

[Euler]

WGN said:→

Authorities in Kane County say an investigation is underway after a deputy's rifle was stolen from their squad car earlier this week.

According to the Kane County Sheriff's Office, the rifle was stolen during an early-morning burglary on Tuesday.

Authorities said the deputy's squad car was parked outside their residence in Aurora when someone broke into the vehicle and stole an Aero Precision AR-15 rifle.

The incident appears to be isolated, authorities said, and deputies are actively developing and pursuing leads associated with potential suspects.

Separate from the criminal investigation, officials from the sheriff's office said they are also conducting an internal administrative review to determine whether the office's policies and procedures were followed.

Anyone with information that could help authorities in their investigation is asked to contact the Kane County Sheriff's Office at 630-444-1103.

What would happen to a private citizen who left a rifle in his car outside overnight and got it stolen? I'd bet the thief won't register it with ISP, either.

[Quiet Observer]

On 8/28/2026 at 6:55 PM, Euler said:

What would happen to a private citizen who left a rifle in his car outside overnight and got it stolen? I'd bet the thief won't register it with ISP, either.

Are you inferring that a private citizen would receive harsher treatment? Like most news items, the article lacks information. Was the gun in plain site or locked in the trunk? The article states that the car was broken into. That indicates that the vehicle was a locked container, which the law requires. 

 

"Separate from the criminal investigation, officials from the sheriff's office said they are also conducting an internal administrative review to determine whether the office's policies and procedures were followed." This indicates that the deputy could be subject to disciplinary action. 

 

I am skeptical of the wisdom of keeping gun in the car overnight, but I do not believe that it violates the law. Some might argue that the gun should be kept in the car so that it would not be forgotten if he were unexpectantly called out in the middle of the night. 

 

I have no doubt that the new owner will register the weapon. I also found a great deal on a big bridge in New York City.

[Euler]

On August 29, 2026 at 09:26 AM CDT, Quiet Observer said:→

Are you [implying] that a private citizen would receive harsher treatment? ...
...

Yes, that's my expectation. There really shouldn't be a need for a "review." Either there's already a clear policy or there isn't. The "review" noise is for public consumption.

[Quiet Observer]

On 8/29/2026 at 1:50 PM, Euler said:

Yes, that's my expectation. There really shouldn't be a need for a "review." Either there's already a clear policy or there isn't. The "review" noise is for public consumption.

If policies and laws were always clear there would be much less need for court hearings. We have not seen a copy of the department policy.

 

"Separate from the criminal investigation, officials from the sheriff's office said they are also conducting an internal administrative review to determine whether the office's policies and procedures were followed". He is entitled to due process.

[Euler]

On August 29, 2026 at 02:19 PM CDT, Quiet Observer said:→

...
... He is entitled to due process.

Indeed, I have not said he isn't, but is that what a "review" provides? Is the department "reviewing" his actions so that it can defend him? That's an interesting perspective.

I'm not arguing for prosecution. "Safe storage" is a stupid law. But if he were a private citizen, it would be the prosecutor's office that would be "reviewing" the incident, not cops "reviewing" other cops.

[Quiet Observer]

Is not the normal course of action that an incident is investigated initially by the police and then the information is passed on to the prosecutor's office if warranted? 

It is possible that there is a coverup, but possibility do not make it so. 

Do you have data on how civilians dealt with if their gun is stolen? I see reports on TV about a child finding an unsecured gun at home and shooting themselves or another child. I do not remember hearing that the owner is being arrested for violation of the Safe Storage Law. 

 

 

[John Q Public]

Isn't it up to the ISP to investigate local police?

[Euler]

The point is that due process isn't something that happens at the discretion of police. Investigations are not due process. Due process is an adversarial procedure that happens in courts with lawyers, judges, and juries. Police (or any other agency) investigating itself is a (usually successful) attempt to forestall that process. Frequently such self-investigations are conflicts of interest, which are sometimes partially avoided by agencies investigating each other. I don't maintain a compiled list of examples, but they're not rare. "We have investigated ourselves and determined that we are blameless" is not a meme without basis.

I don't maintain a compiled list of storage law prosecutions, either. Cases would probably include times charges were used for leverage before being dropped. County court records are particularly opaque to searches. When a child is injured, negligence charges usually get more mileage.

[John Q Public]

On 8/30/2026 at 3:35 PM, Euler said:

The point is that due process isn't something that happens at the discretion of police. Investigations are not due process. Due process is an adversarial procedure that happens in courts with lawyers, judges, and juries. Police (or any other agency) investigating itself is a (usually successful) attempt to forestall that process. Frequently such self-investigations are conflicts of interest, which are sometimes partially avoided by agencies investigating each other. I don't maintain a compiled list of examples, but they're not rare. "We have investigated ourselves and determined that we are blameless" is not a meme without basis.

I don't maintain a compiled list of storage law prosecutions, either. Cases would probably include times charges were used for leverage before being dropped. County court records are particularly opaque to searches. When a child is injured, negligence charges usually get more mileage.

I agree, but some agency, or other, needs to investigate... I agree internal is not the way to go, but the law does not define who shall do such investigation, for LEOs. One would assume, for public it could be any LEOs, but this can not stand, for an agency investigating itself. We already have many cases with Internal Affairs type investigations. This might work for some things, but I agree with you that we need oversight. One of the biggest issues, is who will do it, and the integrity of the investigators... Everything is slanted, one way, or the other, including civilians, I would't know where to turn, or whom to trust with the job. 

 

What are you thoughts on how to handle it? 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2026 at 02:49 PM by John Q Public

[Quiet Observer]

On 8/30/2026 at 3:35 PM, Euler said:

The point is that due process isn't something that happens at the discretion of police. Investigations are not due process. Due process is an adversarial procedure that happens in courts with lawyers, judges, and juries. Police (or any other agency) investigating itself is a (usually successful) attempt to forestall that process. Frequently such self-investigations are conflicts of interest, which are sometimes partially avoided by agencies investigating each other. I don't maintain a compiled list of examples, but they're not rare. "We have investigated ourselves and determined that we are blameless" is not a meme without basis.

I don't maintain a compiled list of storage law prosecutions, either. Cases would probably include times charges were used for leverage before being dropped. County court records are particularly opaque to searches. When a child is injured, negligence charges usually get more mileage.

Due Process does not necessarily require a court trial. 

 

" A jury trial is not necessarily required, but the individual must have notice of the proceeding and receive an opportunity to be heard. They also must have their case heard before an impartial tribunal". 

Due Process Rights Legally Provided by the Constitution | Constitutional Law Center | Justia  

 

I cannot find anything in that law that specifically forbids locking a gun in your car on your property overnight. Nor can I find that you are in violation, if someone breaks into your premises and steals your weapon. As I stated above, I am assuming that the squad car was locked since the article used the term broken into.

 

"Premises" includes any land, building, structure, vehicle, or place directly or indirectly under the control of the firearm owner." 

Illinois General Assembly - HEALTH AND SAFETY - PUBLIC SAFETY 

 

It is possible that the Sheriff's department has a policy about leaving a weapon in a squad overnight or other pertinent practices. If he violated policy, then would be subject to discipline, e.g. suspension without pay, demotion, or dismissal from the force. Either or all of these would require that certain established departmental procedures be followed before they could be enacted. That would meet the due process requirement. He would also right to appeal or even sue. 

If he was not in violation policy, there may be a need for review and possible revision. 

 

As far as ISP involvement, I do not know what the procedure is. Some may believe that it should happen. Others may see it as PR and that it is just cops investigating other cops. "They are all in cahoots."

 

[Euler]

Indeed, due process requires an impartial tribunal. Courts provide procedures other than trials. In particular, it is the role of courts to be impartial.

Employers are not impartial in any procedure involving their employees, since they have an interest in the procedure or in their employees themselves.

Executive agencies are not impartial in any law enforcement issue. Since it is the role of the executive agency to enforce the law (especially criminal law), it necessarily has an interest in the enforcement of law. If executive agencies satisfied the requirement for impartial tribunals, then there would be no need of a judiciary. Police and prosecutors could preside over hearings and trials. In other countries they have, and in some they still do.

So whether a police agency engages in a procedure involving officers for policy reasons (as an employer) or for legal reasons (as an executive agency), it is not impartial, therefore the procedure is not due process. (My understanding is that internal police disciplinary procedure is governed by union contracts, rather than a state or US Constitution, since it's not due process.)

Should police agencies review employee conduct? Sure, every employer should review employee conduct. However, no other class of employer tries to assert that employee review substitutes for criminal procedure (possibly with a goal of concealing criminality).

How does government or the people fix conflicts of executive interest? The American model of government relies on transparency and a government susceptible to public outrage over what that transparency reveals. It breaks down when there is no transparency or when government no longer cares what the public knows.

As for whether the deputy violated the storage law, it depends on how the rifle was stored, which we don't know. (Again, it's a stupid law.) If the rifle was locked in a carrier in plain view, it gets interesting. Technically there's nothing in the safe storage law that prohibits a home gun safe from being made of Saran Wrap. (As it does with many things, California maintains a list of "approved" gun safes for CA owners. IL isn't there yet. Oh, and Heller is still in the way.) Carriers aren't much better than Saran Wrap.

[top_notch]

On 8/30/2026 at 11:12 AM, John Q Public said:

Isn't it up to the ISP to investigate local police?

Yes.  I was questioned by isp because a police chief was harassing my neighbor.  I'd see this undercover car parked out front so I'd take a picture with my phone.  Turns out, it was the chief.  

[John Q Public]

On 9/2/2026 at 11:05 PM, top_notch said:

Yes.  I was questioned by isp because a police chief was harassing my neighbor.  I'd see this undercover car parked out front so I'd take a picture with my phone.  Turns out, it was the chief.  

 

It still feels a bit incestuous, one LEO checking out another. Also, the ISP is JBs police, so politics factors in as well.