Shannon Hayes, Director of Investigations

Shannon Hayes majored in English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received a law degree from Chicago Kent College of Law. She has been working in police oversight in Chicago since 2004, starting as an investigator with the Office of Professional Standards and the Independent Police Review Authority. Shannon became a Supervising Investigator at the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in 2017, and became Director of Investigations in 2020. Since March 2022, Shannon has managed COPA’s Video Release and Transparency Unit (VRTU). VRTU is responsible for COPA’s compliance with the City of Chicago’s Video Release Policy, which covers public releases of materials for major cases; Executive Order 2021-1, which allows complainants to request materials related to their complaints; and the Freedom of Information Act, which allows members of the public to request records; as well as posting Final Summary Reports to COPA’s website.