There is substantial pushback from police departments and sheriff’s in Illinois to the criminal justice reform package from the some of the state’s lawmakers. The Legislative Black Caucus introduced their proposal yesterday. The biggest piece of the package would change how police officers in the state can use force, including deadly force. There’s also a provision to end cash bail, require body cameras for all police departments in the state, change how cities can handle police discipline, and allow police officers to be sued for the actions they take while on the job. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police says the package is the ‘worst thing’ that could happen to policing in the state.
Lawmakers will be taking up as soon as this weekend a bill that would have massive implications for the future of law enforcement and communities in Illinois.
A 600-plus page bill, House Bill 163 would – according to the Illinois Sheriff’s Association – “eliminate law enforcement as we know it from every community in the state” to “invalidate constitutionally protected due process of officers”.
DeWitt County Sheriff Mike Walker says the two biggest pieces of the document that is 611 pages and was introduced on Tuesday of this week are allowing officers to be punished or fired based on anonymous and unsubstantiated or unverifiable complaints-no sworn affidavits and a mandate that those unsubstantiated and unverified complaints be kept to be used against officers forever, with no destruction and no limits on how they can be utilized to inflict harm on officers. The other piece is the elimination of qualified immunity for police.
The bill also calls for the elimination of charges for habitual criminals. He explains there are a lot of provisions that would keep criminals out of jail and going right back on the streets to cause more harm and damage to Illinois communities.
The Illinois Sheriff’s Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police have all opposed this bill which was put on Tuesday and will be taken up in committee Saturday.
Sheriff Walker says this is not a Republican/Democrat issue but rather a right/wrong issue.
***Report Courtesy of 24/7 News Source 01/08/2021 01:47:23 Western Illinois Summary (1) and farmweeknow.com***
