Senate Republicans gathered at the Capitol in Springfield Tuesday to detail an updated set of legislative proposals they say would strengths support for law enforcement and help hold violent criminals accountable.
The Republicans said that their Democratic colleagues need to take the recent rise of violent crime seriously and pass legislation that will keep violent offenders off the streets, including repealing provisions of 101-HB3653 (Slaughter), the “SAFE-T Act,” which eliminated cash bail and reformed pre-trial sentencing.
Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Champaign) said that Republicans have continued to work on the legislation that they first proposed in Fall 2021.
“Just last month in Decatur, we had a police officer shot. Back in October, we said we're here. Let's do this now. Let's take the violent criminals off our streets. Let's take action. Nothing. Crickets. It has been three months since then. Three months? Well, the General Assembly's back to work, it's time to take action. It is past time. How many more people need to be shot, how many cars need to be hijacked, how many more people need to be murdered before the Democrats in this building do something?” Rose said.
The lawmakers were joined by current and former members of the law enforcement, including recently retired Piatt County Sheriff David Hunt.
“Democrats made the decision to work on police reform here in Illinois. Some of these reforms caused uncertainty that I felt would have a negative impact on law enforcement officers. A few examples include the cost of unfunded mandates, including data storage, body cams, and training, all without financial assistance. As a sheriff, that means less money for officers on the street. Additionally, ending cash bail completely is a mistake, and that would make it harder to keep violent criminals off the street,” Hunt said.
Included the Republican’s proposal is SB2918 (Rose), the “Fund the Police Grant Act,” which would provide targeted grants to law enforcement organizations for use with officer training, officer retention, and to assist with the purchase of needed equipment like body cameras.
“We continue to develop our proposal from the fall that Senator Rose talked about to provide additional resources to law enforcement through the fund the police act. This legislation would provide a direct infusion of $125 million to law enforcement that would provide funding for body cameras for police training, for outreach and community policy programs for hiring and rehiring of officers, and for mental health treatment for individuals who are incarcerated in our prisons,” said Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris).
Sen. Steve McClure (R-Jacksonville) provided additional details on their violence prevention proposals which include mandatory 10 years to life sentences for first offense violent gun convictions, and mandatory life sentences for subsequent convictions. They are also proposing a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for individuals who provide guns to convicted criminals, aimed at curbing the recent rise in carjackings.
Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Mt. Vernon) said the process by which the SAFE-T Act was passed purposefully alienated law enforcement, which has led to many departures and early retirements.
“Last January, the Democrats pushed through sweeping changes to our criminal justice system. They pushed through those changes in the middle of the night without public or law enforcement input. A year later, we can safely say that their ‘my way or the highway’ approach has failed. Our law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe were cut completely out of the process. The governor and his legislative allies sent a clear signal the voice of law enforcement: you’re not welcome at the table,” Bryant said.
Allison F Richard
Legislative Consultant
