Exonerees share stories at Illinois police trainings aimed at preventing wrongful convictions

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It has been called an American epidemic.

Wrongful convictions have led to people who were later exonerated losing more than 21,000 years in U.S. prisons. Illinois is the top state in the country for wrongful convictions.

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Now, the state agency that oversees police training is mandating classes aimed at eliminating that.

Exonerees share their stories with police cadets.

"My name is Marvin Cotton Jr. and I served 19 years, seven months and 12 days in prison for crime that I did not commit," one exoneree said.

"My feet touched the penitentiary grounds January 1996. I just turned 19 years old," another said.

It is a critical part of Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance Training.

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"Not only the first state to mandate it, but it's the first state to have this training. To our knowledge, when there's nobody else in the country that is doing this type of training. And so, we're very proud of that and proud that our legislatures thought enough of this program to make it a mandatory training to help right the wrongs of the past," said Wrongful Conviction Awareness & Avoidance Director Marc Beach.

Mandated in 2022 and implemented last year by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the groundbreaking curriculum is being taught at all state police academies.

"It's definitely an eye-opener. They embedded that into our brain since day one, the importance of treating people fairly and respect," said Alex Orta with the Chicago Police Department.

The I-Team attended one in Decatur and another in Chicago.

"The numbers show that there are innocents in our in our criminal justice system that are being wrongfully accused and being held and punished for crimes they didn't commit. And I feel like that's something that should be brought up to the attention to new cadets in our academy to make us more aware before we even hit the streets, to have an open mind and to definitely get our policies and procedures correct," said CPD's Christian Ramos.

Forty-four training sessions have been held so far for 3,100 cadets, all new police officers who have attended an academy class since March 2023.

Beach is the director of the program.

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"I spent 23 years as a police officer," Beach said. "I actually had no idea that wrongful convictions were really even an issue. The system that I represent would do that to somebody, and it would get it wrong. And so, I said, you know, I have to I have to do something to make that better."

Data gathered by the Illinois Innocence Project is integral to the curriculum.

"We just want to help going forward to prevent wrongful convictions from happening in the future," said Illinois Innocence Project Interim Director Stephanie Kamel.

Lauren Kaeseberg is the Illinois Innocence Project legal director.

"The most meaningful aspect of it is meeting face-to-face with an exoneree. Like, when you have that proximity and that human connection with someone who's been through this, the system, getting it so wrong, it's hard to not be impacted by that," Kaeseberg said.

Cadets told the ABC7 I-Team that hearing from exonerees first-hand is impactful.

"Heartbroken, for sure, for that person and their families, and not being able to imagine what that feels like having gone through that situation, but also honored. And like, there's sort of a privilege to take on the next role and do what I can, and hopefully learn everything that I can and hold other people around myself accountable," said Carson Stewart with the Springfield Police Department.

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"Do thorough investigations, making sure that, of course, our integrity is on point," said Courtney Williams with the Matteson Police Department.

Program leaders say their goal is to expand the training to include more experienced officers and more.

"There's been so much interest from other states to replicate what we're doing other places,"' Kaeseberg said.

"I have some pretty lofty goals of not just improving the system here in the state of Illinois but taking it across the country and even internationally. Ultimately, no innocent person belongs in prison," Beach said.

Even though Illinois leads the nation for the most overturned wrongful convictions, it has one of the lowest reimbursement programs, maxing out at $225,000. Some lawmakers are trying to get that cap increased to $2 million.