I-CASE ORIGINAL REPORT Div Of Internal Investigation DII Investigators Report ID: 670933 (This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the agency listed above. It and its contents are not to be disseminated outside your agency.) I-CASE No. IL16AA01350 Case Status: Case Closed: Sustained Report Status: Approved Case Title No. Of Suspects No. Of Victims Caution Codes? Gang Related? Domestic Related? Trooper Bryce Benton, #6246, DOO/STIC 0 0 No No No Last Offense Classification/Re-Classification Inchoate Code Internal Investigations - Case Type - Personnel Complaint Referral (Southern Command) Internal Investigations - Administrative Codes - 6310 - Internal (Sworn) Internal Investigations - Administrative Codes - 6315 - Off State Time Internal Investigations - Administrative Codes - 6433 - Political Activities Internal Investigations - Administrative Codes - 6416 - Improper Use Of Name Or Position INCIDENT INFORMATION Address of Occurrence (No., Street, City, Township, County, State, Zip, Country) 2200 South Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois, 62703, United States of America (USA) Location Type Date and Time of Occurrence Other Or Unknown - Residential / Other Or Unknown 01/18/2016 07:00 Officer Arrives / Case Open Date Reported 01/29/2016 00:00 Action Date Incident Assigned By DII INFORMATION CADMF Received Date 01/29/2016 DII Notified Date 120 Days Date 180 Days Date 07/27/2016 Settlement Agreement? Yes OEIG/OIG Referral Protection & Advocacy Notification No Case Closure Recommeded Discipline ASSISTANCE REQUESTED BY Agency Requesting Officer Officer Title Officer Contact Number Illinois State Police Calvin Brown, #5332 Master Sergeant (217)558-7150 REPORTING OFFICER/APPROVING SUPERVISOR/PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR Role Name Date and Time Last Submitted/Approved Officer BARBER, Matthew Star # 6249 (DII Investigators) Submitted - 02/09/2016 07:23 Supervisor MCCARTHY, Annette Star # 17418 Approved - 02/09/2016 09:52 Investigator File Initiation Report REPORT TITLE/PURPOSE Printed By: "" Annette McCarthy (DIIMCCARTA )"" - "04/14/2016 10:49" Page 1 of 3
I-CASE No: IL16AA01350 Report ID: 670933 Subject : Bryce BENTON DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Name: Bryce BENTON Height/Weight: / No Photo Maiden Name: Nickname: Sex: Male Build: Eye Color: Facial Hair: Race/Ethnicity: White / Not Of Hispanic Origin Complexion: DOB Marital Status: Married Hair Color: Hair Length/ Style: Alias(s)/DOB(s): Dominant Hand: Citizenship: Place of Birth: Physical Description: RESIDENCE INFORMATION Address Name Address, City, Township, County, State, Zip, Country Benton 2200 South Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, Sangamon, Illinois, 62703, United States of America (USA) CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name Contact Type Number Benton Cell Cell Phone Benton Work Telephone (217)557-1940 IDENTITY DOCUMENTS Document Type Document Number State Country Expiration Date Employee Id 6246 Illinois United States of America (USA) EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION Employer Address Contacts Illinois State Police 2200 South Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, Occupation: Trooper Sangamon, Illinois, 62703, United States of America (USA) Employed From: 10/06/2010 to Present Manager Name: Additional Involved Employees Agency Name Unit. Employee Role Employee Name Star # Responding Vehicle Div Of Internal Investigation Case Management Officer MCCARTHY, Annette Star # 17418 (DII Investigators) 17418 NARRATIVE SECTION On January 29, 2016 the Illinois State Police (ISP), Division of Internal Investigation (DII) received a Complaint Against Department Member Form (CADMF) from Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC) Master Sergeant (M/Sgt.) Calvin Brown, #5332, regarding an allegation of unauthorized political activities against STIC Trooper (Tpr.) Bryce Benton, #6246. According to the CADMF, Tpr. Benton allegedly had photographs of himself in an ISP uniform, along with references to his employment, on his official campaign website and also on a television campaign advertisement produced by Liberty Printed By: "" Annette McCarthy (DIIMCCARTA )"" - "04/14/2016 10:49" Page 2 of 3
I-CASE No: IL16AA01350 Report ID: 670933 NARRATIVE SECTION Principles PAC. M/Sgt Brown received four photographs of Tpr. Benton in his ISP Class A uniform from STIC Bureau Chief Aaron Kustermann, allegedly obtained through Tpr. Benton's Illinois Senate campaign website. This case is being referred back to DOO/STIC. Type : Name : File Name : ATTACHMENTS Complaint Against Department Member Form CADMF Last Benton Attachments.pdf Printed By: "" Annette McCarthy (DIIMCCARTA )"" - "04/14/2016 10:49" Page 3 of 3
Attachment #1 IL16AA01350 2
MEMORANDUM TO: Chief of Intelligence Aaron Kustermann FROM: Trooper Bryce Benton #6246 DATE: January 25, 2016 SUBJECT: Fact Finding Memorandum This memorandum is to document the circumstances surrounding the use of pictures of me in my ISP uniform appearing in a third-party campaign advertisement for the Illinois State Senate. I have uploaded pictures of myself in uniform to my personal Facebook page in the past; however, when I began my campaign for the State Senate, I either hid or removed the images from public view. As part of my campaign for the Illinois State Senate, my staff asked me to submit as many pictures as possible for potential use in campaign materials. I gave the campaign a multitude of pictures, including pictures of me in uniform. I advised my staff that I believed we may be unable to use the pictures due to ISP directives, and to refrain from using them pending approval. At some point during the week of January 18, my campaign uploaded multiple pictures to my website, including pictures of me in uniform without my knowledge or consent. I was unaware that the pictures were in the public arena until the morning of January 22, when I saw them on television in a third-party ad. My campaign staff learned of the use of the uniform pictures the morning of January 22 and removed the pictures from our campaign website early Friday afternoon. At no time did we coordinate with the third-party group on the usage of the pictures in their commercial and have still had no interaction or discussions with the group. Attachment #2 IL16AA01350 1