Judge Prohibits Release of Liquor Commissioner’s DUI Police Report and Body Cam Footage –

Naperville, IL. (ECWd) –

Dana Davenport, a Naperville Attorney and (now-former) Naperville Liquor Commissioner was arrested and charged with felony tampering with evidence/false information, DUI, failure to signal, disobeying traffic control signal, and improper lane usage in mid-February 2022. Davenport resigned from the liquor commission after her arrest. Davenport also portrays herself as a “prominent voice in local philanthropy and social justice.  Is involved in many other projects, most notably the Homecoming Challenge and her newest show, Finding Common Ground.”

A citizen submitted a FOIA request for the police report and bodycam footage of the incident and the City of Naperville denied the request for public records citing a Court Order prohibiting its release.

In the Order, dated March 9, 2022, DuPage County Judge Daniel P. Guerin ordered:

• THE COURT FINDS THAT PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF POLICE REPORTS AND VIDEOS IN THE ABOVE CAPTIONED MATTER WOULD IMPEDE THE ORDERLY ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND JEOPARDIZE THE DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL BEFORE AN IMPARTIAL JURY.
• THE COURT ORDERS THAT THE NAPERVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE DUPAGE COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE NOT DISSEMINATE ANY PUBLIC RECORDS, INCLUDING REPORTS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, REGARDING THE ABOVE CAPTIONED MATTER AFTER THE ENTRY OF THIS ORDER AND UNTIL FURTHER ORDER OF COURT.

While we can’t fault the Naperville Police Department for following a court order, we do find the Court’s order of keeping a felony arrest record from the public highly unusual considering the person arrested was a public officer in the city of Naperville at the time of her arrest.

Police reports are routinely released for much more serious allegations than this DUI, etc., and should be released in this incident in our opinion.

The next court date is April 11, 2022.

We will update this when more information becomes available.

***All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law***