Illinois police and politicians are protesting a broad criminal justice reform bill signed earlier this week, in an instance calling the legislation “a flagrant move to punish an entire honorable profession that will ultimately harm more law-abiding citizens. law. “
Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill – a review of criminal justice and policing in the state – on Monday. A coalition of law enforcement agencies across the state criticized Pritzker’s move, criticizing the Democratic governor for choosing “to hear some strident political voices over the 120,000 citizens who signed petitions and clearly saw the bill for what it is,” according to to a statement provided to Fox News on Wednesday.
“Because we swear to protect and serve the public, we sincerely hope that we are not proved that we are right about this new law, that it will not cause the police to leave the profession en masse and handcuff those who remain so that they can” “End the crimes against people and property, “continues the Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition statement. “Please, don’t let us measure your dark failure by the destroyed lives you produce.”
Chicago Police Department officers watch protesters gather outside their police station on June 19, 2020 in Chicago. (Photo by Natasha Mustache / Getty Images)
(Getty)
The coalition consists of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Troopers Lodge 41 and the state and local branches of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police.
“We ask all citizens to remember who supported this law,” concludes the statement, “and keep that in mind the next time you turn to the Illinois police for protection that they can no longer provide.”
CHICAGO REVIEW STATUES OF LINCOLN, WASHINGTON, OTHER US ICONS FOR POSSIBLE ‘ACTION’
The legislation even caught the eye of an Alabama police chief, who wrote a letter to Pritzker thanking him for the anticipated influx of Illinois police officers who will be looking for jobs elsewhere.
The bill requires police officers in all departments to be equipped with portable cameras by 2025 and requires officers to establish a “statewide pattern of use of force for law enforcement agencies” as of January next year. The bill also calls for the bail bond to be eliminated by 2023, effectively moving from “a pre-trial detention system that prioritizes wealth to one that prioritizes public safety,” Pritzker’s office said in a subsequent press release.
New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC have taken similar measures in terms of bail reform, but they do not go as far as Illinois legislation.
“Please, we are not going to measure his gloomy failure by the destroyed lives he produces.”
The bill creates a “co-respondent model” to support the creation of programs and services to address mental health and substance abuse concerns and adds funding for additional related training. It requires that records of police misconduct be maintained and mandates that police departments create plans “to protect vulnerable people present during search warrant searches,” the statement said.
In a statement released on Monday, Pritzker said the legislation marked “a substantial step towards dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities, our state and our nation and brings us closer to true security, true justice and true justice”.
“In this terrible year, in the midst of a brutal viral pandemic that hit blacks and browns disproportionately, lawmakers struggled to tackle the systemic racism pandemic after national protests,” he said. “This bill was also infused with solutions from individuals most directly impacted: survivors of domestic violence, survivors of crime and those who were detained before the trial just because they are poor. Today we advance our values in the law ”.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CHICAGO’S SCHOOLS FACE THE NIGHTMARE WHILE ILLINOIS BOOSTS PROGRESSIVE POLICY
He highlighted on his Twitter page a list of “myths” and “facts” related to them.
Some of Illinois’s top law enforcement officers supported the law, including Cook County Attorney Kim Foxx and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, both Democrats.
Sharone Mitchell Jr., director of the Illinois Justice Project, called the elimination of bail and cash bail “one of the most important reforms” that “will make sense of the ‘presumption of innocence’ in our criminal justice system.”
“When they go into effect in two years, judges will be able to detain anyone who is considered a threat to the community or who does not return for a trial date, but no one else will be required to find money to buy your release from prison before a trial. “said Mitchell Jr ..
But others had less favorable things to say.
Illinois Republican Party President Don Tracy said in a statement On Monday, Pritzker was “intentionally undermining public safety – putting citizens in danger, encouraging criminals and making Illinois less safe for families”.
“Don’t just believe me,” he added. “All state police associations have condemned this bill.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Illinois state senator John Curran, a Republican, said the legislation was “enforced in the middle of the night, with only a few hours to go until a Lame Duck session, without the transparency and speech expected in a democratic process.”
“Governor Pritzker enacted this hyperpartisan legislation against the strong objections of almost all law enforcement organizations in the state and against the great concern of the general public,” he said. “There are some positive aspects to this legislation – specifically the changes that make it easier to rebuke and cancel the certification of bad actors in law enforcement that have broken public confidence. Unfortunately, the negative aspects, which could have been negotiated if the sponsors were open to bipartisan support will undoubtedly make our communities less secure. “