Today Jesse Sullivan, Republican candidate for governor, launched a new ad campaign showcasing support from sheriffs across the state for his Safe Streets plan.
The 0:30 spot will be supported by a six-figure ad buy in target markets across the state.
Including 14 active Illinois sheriffs, Sullivan’s Safe Streets Leadership Council is the strongest coalition of active law enforcement leaders among a crowded Republican primary field.
“I’ve known Jesse Sullivan since long before he decided to step into public service,” said Menard County Sheriff and Safe Streets Leadership Council co-chair Mark Oller.
“Not only has he always supported law enforcement, but he has also worked with inmates at our county jail, praying with them and trying to help them find a better path. The Safe Streets Leadership Council is an example of his dedication to listening to the people on the front lines of keeping Illinoisans safe. There is no doubt in my mind that he is committed to restoring public safety and justice to the entire state of Illinois.”
Proposed action steps in the Safe Streets plan include:
Filling every officer vacancy across the state, augmenting with National Guard assets and State Police where necessary.
Reversing the elimination of cash bail for violent offenders and relaxing the restraints on pretrial / preventive detention.
Scaling positive models like DuPage County’s Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigations Team (MERIT).
Providing support to local police departments for witness / victim protection programs.
1. Fully staff and support state and local police officers.
• Fill every officer vacancy across the state; augmenting with National Guard assets and state police where necessary.
• Fully staff every Illinois State Police crime labs to prevent large backlogs of DNA testing, rape kit testing, weapons processing, and other evidence.
• Fully utilize National Guard support capabilities, such as helicopters, to reinforce law enforcement in areas where crime is surging.
2. Remove violent criminals from the streets to keep communities safe.
• Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
• End electronic monitoring statewide for violent criminals so they cannot menace their communities.
• Reverse the elimination of cash bail for violent offenders and relax the restraints on pretrial / preventive detention so that criminals cannot terrorize their communities and intimidate witnesses while awaiting trial.
3. Forge multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency partnerships that get results. Criminals do not abide by lines of jurisdiction, so our solutions need to be flexible and adaptive.
• Do what Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot by working with neighboring states to share data, information, and tactics to target illegal drugs, guns, and gang activity.
• Grow positive models like DuPage County’s Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigations Team (MERIT) system, to allow smaller counties to train, work, and share information with larger ones.
• Work with federal partners to ensure carjackers, cop killers, and gang leaders are charged with the stiffest penalties in federal court, as in initiatives such as Detroit ONE
Protect our Heroes
1. Repeal the anti-police bill and defend qualified immunity for law enforcement.
• Repeal the anti-police “Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity- Today Act.”
• Strongly oppose additional changes to qualified immunity doctrine from the radical left.
• Protect police officers from threats of frivolous civil lawsuits in the course of doing their jobs and safeguard municipal budgets that would otherwise face increased litigation and insurance rates.
• End the allowance of anonymous citizen complaints against officers.
2. Increase penalties for assaulting law enforcement.
• Strengthen minimum sentencing requirements for violent criminals who assault law enforcement.
• Require that individuals who assault police officers or bring weapons into penal institutions serve at least 85 percent of their sentence (before parole eligibility).
• Call for federal action to ensure that killing any state or local law enforcement officer is considered a federal crime.
3. Compensate law enforcement fairly for the risk they assume.
• Introduce fair pay for sheriffs so that sheriff pay is structured to match the State’s Attorney scale (two-thirds paid by state, according to population).
• Join states like Florida, Washington, Arizona and New Jersey by offering temporary signing bonuses to attract new law enforcement officers from out of state.
• Create retention incentives to help retain law enforcement officers who are approaching retirement eligibility.
Restore Accountability
1. Take ownership and lead in the fight against crime.
• Incentivize collaboration and reward high performance across government.
• Create a new position of Anti-Violence Director, reporting directly to the governor, to oversee all efforts to reduce criminality of those in state systems (e.g. DOC, DHS, DCFS, DJJ, DHFS).
• Strengthen collaboration between sheriffs, police chiefs, and prosecutors, with fact-finding and showcase sessions led by the governor.
• Create performance-based incentives for prisons based on recidivism rates, and offer other prisons the opportunity to learn from these successes and implement their models.
2. Invest in witness protection to help convict criminals.
• Make it safe for people who “see something” to “say something” by enacting mandatory sentencing penalties for the intimidation and the threatening of witnesses.
• Provide financial support in the form of grants and housing vouchers to local police departments that establish comprehensive witness and victim protection programs.
3. Refocus on reducing recidivism.
• Reprioritize budgets to ensure adequate resources to allow qualified prisoners to take classes and access training while in prison.
• Double the Illinois Tax Credit for Hiring Ex-Offenders to a credit amount equal to 10% of qualified wages paid or up to $1,200 per hire, and establish a statewide hiring network for employers and qualified prisoners in advance of release.
• Strengthen relationships between Illinois Parole Agents and local law enforcement to prevent backsliding, including placing geographical restrictions on parolees to prevent them from falling back into their prior lifestyle.
• Increase penalties for violent ex- offenders who are rearrested while on parole.
=== The plan, which includes no funding mechanisms ===
Well, heck, if you don’t have to worry about funding mechanisms,
and you don’t worry that the state police, and National Guard members filling police positions would not doing what they would otherwise be doing,
well then I propose a police officer on every corner.
==you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore==
Funny, I had no trouble a couple weeks back.
To the plan:
Any plan that includes restoring cash bail is fundamentally not serious, BUT having any plan at all is certainly better than what Irvin has rolled out so far.
I’m coming around to the idea that we shouldn’t ignore Sullivan, for all the many, many mistakes he’s made so far.
I am really curious what strategies he plans to employee to get all those positions filled without spending anymore money.
“you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore”
Stop. For the love of god stop. What does that even mean? Literally millions of people live in this city, many of whom have a pleasant time every day. This hyperbolic depiction of Chicago as a place where you are risking your life the second you enter the city is helping no one.
===you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.==
Hyperbole much?
To the post, looks like the kitchen sink approach. Any mention of the National Guard is nonsense and a terrible idea. Surprised to see him sort of mention corrections/reentry, which is a sorely overlooked and underfunded but very important issue. Oh wait–none of this has funding…
==If a candidate that nobody cares about, knows about, and has no chance releases a crime plan for nobody to read - was it really released? ==
He still has the money to get on air, and no one needs to match Griff dollar for dollar to win that primary. He could make his presence felt.
Still, I think pretty soon he’s going have to offer something more than “Chicago is literal hell on earth”. His primary voters have known that for decades, but it doesn’t really move their votes.
There are a few intriguing ideas in here, mixed in with the usual “let the cops do whatever and don’t ask questions” anti-reform rhetoric, stiffer penalties (that rarely work beyond a certain point), and more nonsense about the National Guard. Who in Illinois do we need a big Army Blackhawk helicopter to apprehend, anyway?
I do appreciate that Sullivan spends some time on reducing recidivism, including nonpunitive measured, even if it’s only at the end. That shows some degree of thoughtfulness.
I thought the whole point of eliminating cash bail was that dangerous criminals shouldn’t be bailed out at all, while nondangerous ones shouldn’t be penalized. If dangerous offenders are being released on electronic monitoring, the answer is to keep them locked up instead, not let them post bail.
Grade: C+. Looks like Sullivan took a handful of actual recommendations from experts and merged them with a bunch of ideas from talk-radio callers.
He has absolutely no lane in this primary anymore. He’s redundant in every way. He can set fire to a few million, take his 7% in the primary, and head back to Silicon Valley.
Not how I’d do it if I was a millionaire (I’d invest in a nice pool for myself) but if it makes Tiny Jesse Sullivan feel big inside then maybe it’s worth every cent?
=Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.=
Tell me you don’t understand the National Guards role without actually telling me.
Cripes - Jesse, since you served/snark, you should really know what the National Guard is good at and what they are not. So on top of that idea we are going to have Guard helicopters flying around our skies? So much of that plan is a total joke - and I’m tickled that a good portion of your voting bloc probably believe in the old “black helicopter trope” of the government watching them and what they are up to.
The biggest question I have is how exactly Mr. Sullivan would get this “agenda” of his passed by a General Assembly that is held by a super majority of the other party? Asking them to overturn some of the same legislation they just enacted in some cases. Would he, for instance, be willing to withhold passing a budget for 2-3 years? I see this as clearly something to gin up the base.
This is not a serious plan, it is based on bias, hyperbole, regional angst, division, and a 3rd grade understanding of governing… let alone being a governor of the 6th largest state in America…
==you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.==
Oddly enough, I’ve managed to live here for the past 30 years and have never once been shot. What I see is a plan that will result in the city of Chicago having to pay out even more millions to the victims of abusive cops while making it even harder to identify them and get them out of the police force. There is more to crime prevention than unleashing a police force with a history of abuse and corruption on a civilian population without any recourse from said population and there is more to crime prevention than just locking people up. Is there a crime problem here? Yes, are these proposed solutions going to fix it? No.
The plan itself? Meh. Pretty generic. As to the Ad, solid B. If you were a Republican primary voter who’d never heard him speak you might see him as a viable option just from his tv spots.
==This “get tough on crime” rhetoric is already sounding like a broken record. ==
Which means it’s probably just starting to break through.
==will resonate with people who see it and are not overly critical (like the commenters here)==
Right, bc your average voter, unlike someone on CapFax, just loves politicians and political ads and is always giving them the benefit of the doubt.
- The Dude Abides - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:16 am:
As far as I know Governor Pritzker isn’t in favor of defunding the police. This commercial will appeal to the downstate crowd that talks about kicking Chicago out of Illinois. I haven’t seen anything yet to suggest that Sullivan is a serious candidate.
This might just be a personal bugaboo, but I’d love to see politicians talk more about crimes that the police don’t address at all. Everyone with a cell phone is experiencing at least a few attempted frauds per week, but the only suggestion the police have is “block the number.” Pretty irrelevant considering how far advanced spoofing technology is.
Another example is wage theft. My guess is that a worker who walks into a police station to complain that they weren’t paid earned overtime isn’t going to get the same treatment as one whose pocket got picked, even though the only difference is the mechanism of the theft.
And, of course, the Chicago Police Department did absolutely nothing as Uber and Lyft broke the city’s taxi licensing system by operating in a flagrantly illegal manner a few years back. Even if you agree that the regulations were too exclusive, endemic lawbreaking shouldn’t be a tolerated lobbying tactic.
The “defund the police” movement unfortunately
crowded out a lot of progressive reform ideas. Most importantly, we should be redefining police to address all crime, instead of focusing just on newsworthy crime or crime committed by poor people.
But likely not all that different than anything that will be advanced by Sullivan’s primary opponents. It’s not as if he’s the only candidate that’s decided to make crime front and center. And therein lies the problem. Saying the same thing as Irvin, Bailey, and Rabine isn’t going to get him much. What exactly in this ad would make someone choose Sullivan over any of his counterparts?
-The only people that make this claim are the people that never visit Chicago anyway.-
Right, and if they are downstate GOP Primary voters they really don’t care about Chicago at all. If they are closer to Chicago maybe it resonates, but I’m not sure that having a Sheriff from your home county with 12K people in it vouch for you demonstrates you are serious about urban crime prevention efforts. Totally different worlds.
I believe the ISP are understaffed right now, and I doubt their rules would allow them to serve as fill-ins on local police departments. As for the National Guard, do they have the requisite law enforcement training to do that? Would their rules allow them? Do we really want to add another layer of police, along with city, county, state, and federal?
I can see where sheriffs would like this plan, as well as the GOP base. The rest of us? Meh.
You can pick apart various agenda items, but there are a few worth considering. I really, the ad plays to the law and order crowd.
However, the biggest flaw in the proposal is including / using the National Guard. Aside from the fact that NG members maybe pulled away from their civilian jobs doing the same activity, the last thing the State needs is another military / paramilitary force of varying training. This should send chills to both liberals and conservatives. Much better to pursue filling open vacancies and / or even expanding staffing where needed.
The video is a “B, B+”, knowing who they want this to target and “reach”, relying on the things I discussed up top; anger, regional angst, fear… and hoping to make a dent without any accountability to the honesty of the argument or the rationale to implement any of it.
What a surprise a group of Sheriffs is suggesting a pay increase for Sheriffs. It would seem that should be left up to counties.
==Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.==
What? Think someone has seen too many episodes of Texas SWAT. How would that even work?
==
Protect police officers from threats of frivolous civil lawsuits in the course of doing their jobs and safeguard municipal budgets that would otherwise face increased litigation and insurance rates.
End the allowance of anonymous citizen complaints against officers.
==
Because we know law enforcement has never engaged in retaliation for stuff, there is no reason anyone would want to remain anonymous when filing a complaint against any entity of government.
Also how often are officers found personally civilly liable for their actions in this state, any state for that matter? Come on….
== Do what Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot by working with neighboring states to share data, information, and tactics to target illegal drugs, guns, and gang activity. ==
You really think NW Indiana is going to share gun purchase information with the state of Illinois?
This is why I don’t take anyone seriously who tries to make the claim that bringing accountability to police is somehow a bad thing.
In the above situation, the BEST case scenario is that the deputy chief is incompetent. And still nothing happens. The ‘politician’ in this case not saying anything, is the local mayor who appointed the police chief.
How much less accountability can there possibly be than there is right now.
- Back to the Future - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:29 am:
As to the Ad, I would give it an A. Moved along, made points and the music was pretty good.
Disagree that the hit on Irwin was “a too-subtle poke” at Irwin. It appeared to me to be a very direct hit on Irwin.
In terms of the Sheriffs support for the plan- - that is a big plus. It shows Sullivan seeks out ideas and is more than willing to include law enforcement folks in coming up with solutions.
The comments by the Sheriff of Menard County about Jesse Sullivan having a record of working with inmates in his jail facility, to me, was particularly impressive. We need leaders that have empathy for fellow residents that are incarcerated and need more than just jail time to figure out a better path for themselves.
- Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:34 am:
Rate it a D. It does nothing to differentiate him from the competition. Also, to Vern’s point, misses opportunities to help citizens.
His proposed misuse of the National Guard costs him points.
=== The plan, which includes no funding mechanisms ===
Since when is that a concern to politicians making promises in either party? The only suggestion I would make is for him to get some glasses with plano lenses so he doesn’t look like he just got out of college.
I listen to a report on NPR this morning about Texas Governor’s use of the Guard in a policing duty at the border. It has been pretty much a failure–morale has plummeted (this is not what we signed up for), and the soldiers are well on their way to forming a union. Even Texas Republicans are beginning to argue it was a bad idea.
==it will resonate with people who see it and are not overly critical==
Like giving police carte blanche then acting surprised when they waste $67 million on mistakes and misconduct? https://tinyurl.com/mr28wz8d
- West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 1:25 pm:
Gotta agree about not enjoying yourself in Chicago anymore. Since Daley’s parking meter deal and general love of parking meters even in neighborhoods, it seems like it costs a monthly car loan payment for long term parking. I mean, that comment was about parking, wasn’t it?
“…leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.” This point from Sullivan totally proves that he has never been in the military, and never took the oath. Even recruits are educated about the fact that the civil authorities are in charge of law enforcement, not the military. One of the reasons the Americans split from the British crown was because of abuses of the civilian population by British troops searching and burning their homes, etc.
If you think the Texas National Guard helicopters and armored personnel carriers at the Branch Davidian massacre was a good thing, vote for Sullivan.
===In terms of the Sheriffs support for the plan- - that is a big plus. It shows Sullivan seeks out ideas and is more than willing to include law enforcement folks in coming up with solutions.===
How will it be paid for, how will implementation look like, can the play get 60/71, 30/36…
A plan that can’t pass or be implemented isn’t much of a good plan.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:42 am:
Ambitious, which is another way of saying expensive.
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:44 am:
I see nothing about crime prevention here, only about punishment.
- Google Is Your Friend - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:44 am:
The 1980s called and want their ideas back.
- PublicServant - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:45 am:
=== The plan, which includes no funding mechanisms ===
Well, heck, if you don’t have to worry about funding mechanisms,
and you don’t worry that the state police, and National Guard members filling police positions would not doing what they would otherwise be doing,
well then I propose a police officer on every corner.
- fs - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:47 am:
== The 1980s called and want their ideas back.==
To be fair, the last time someone said that, ignored the call, and let it go to voicemail…maybe we should’ve answered it.
- ;) - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:51 am:
Better plan than what we have seen over the last couple years. Anything is better; you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.
- The Doc - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:51 am:
==The plan, which includes no funding mechanisms==
Tell me this is a wholly unserious proposal without telling me this is a wholly unserious proposal
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:51 am:
” … working with neighboring states to share data, information, and tactics to target illegal drugs, guns, … .”
Has he read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the current state of Missouri gun laws?
- a paradox - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:53 am:
If a candidate that nobody cares about, knows about, and has no chance releases a crime plan for nobody to read - was it really released?
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:54 am:
==you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore==
Funny, I had no trouble a couple weeks back.
To the plan:
Any plan that includes restoring cash bail is fundamentally not serious, BUT having any plan at all is certainly better than what Irvin has rolled out so far.
I’m coming around to the idea that we shouldn’t ignore Sullivan, for all the many, many mistakes he’s made so far.
- Montrose - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:55 am:
I am really curious what strategies he plans to employee to get all those positions filled without spending anymore money.
“you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore”
Stop. For the love of god stop. What does that even mean? Literally millions of people live in this city, many of whom have a pleasant time every day. This hyperbolic depiction of Chicago as a place where you are risking your life the second you enter the city is helping no one.
- Leslie K - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:55 am:
===you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.==
Hyperbole much?
To the post, looks like the kitchen sink approach. Any mention of the National Guard is nonsense and a terrible idea. Surprised to see him sort of mention corrections/reentry, which is a sorely overlooked and underfunded but very important issue. Oh wait–none of this has funding…
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:57 am:
==If a candidate that nobody cares about, knows about, and has no chance releases a crime plan for nobody to read - was it really released? ==
He still has the money to get on air, and no one needs to match Griff dollar for dollar to win that primary. He could make his presence felt.
Still, I think pretty soon he’s going have to offer something more than “Chicago is literal hell on earth”. His primary voters have known that for decades, but it doesn’t really move their votes.
- Steve Rogers - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:57 am:
It seems Jesse is trying to out-testosterone Irvin for the I’m-the-tough-guy-who-will-end-all-crime-in-Illinois award.
- Benjamin - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:57 am:
There are a few intriguing ideas in here, mixed in with the usual “let the cops do whatever and don’t ask questions” anti-reform rhetoric, stiffer penalties (that rarely work beyond a certain point), and more nonsense about the National Guard. Who in Illinois do we need a big Army Blackhawk helicopter to apprehend, anyway?
I do appreciate that Sullivan spends some time on reducing recidivism, including nonpunitive measured, even if it’s only at the end. That shows some degree of thoughtfulness.
I thought the whole point of eliminating cash bail was that dangerous criminals shouldn’t be bailed out at all, while nondangerous ones shouldn’t be penalized. If dangerous offenders are being released on electronic monitoring, the answer is to keep them locked up instead, not let them post bail.
Grade: C+. Looks like Sullivan took a handful of actual recommendations from experts and merged them with a bunch of ideas from talk-radio callers.
- So_Ill - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:59 am:
==you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.==
Oh dear god.
- Furtive Look - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:59 am:
This “get tough on crime” rhetoric is already sounding like a broken record.
- Bruce( no not him) - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 9:59 am:
“no funding mechanisms…”
It will pay for itself. With all that crime gone, Illinois will suddenly blossom into a world class state. S/
- a paradox - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:01 am:
@ Arsenal
He has absolutely no lane in this primary anymore. He’s redundant in every way. He can set fire to a few million, take his 7% in the primary, and head back to Silicon Valley.
Not how I’d do it if I was a millionaire (I’d invest in a nice pool for myself) but if it makes Tiny Jesse Sullivan feel big inside then maybe it’s worth every cent?
- Perfect Blue - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:03 am:
Its a pretty good ad, it will resonate with people who see it and are not overly critical (like the commenters here)
Rich is right that the shot at Irvin is way too subtle. Could’ve gone hard against both JB and Irvin with crime, missed opportunity, for now
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:04 am:
=Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.=
Tell me you don’t understand the National Guards role without actually telling me.
Cripes - Jesse, since you served/snark, you should really know what the National Guard is good at and what they are not. So on top of that idea we are going to have Guard helicopters flying around our skies? So much of that plan is a total joke - and I’m tickled that a good portion of your voting bloc probably believe in the old “black helicopter trope” of the government watching them and what they are up to.
- One Trick Pony - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:06 am:
The biggest question I have is how exactly Mr. Sullivan would get this “agenda” of his passed by a General Assembly that is held by a super majority of the other party? Asking them to overturn some of the same legislation they just enacted in some cases. Would he, for instance, be willing to withhold passing a budget for 2-3 years? I see this as clearly something to gin up the base.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:06 am:
This is not a serious plan, it is based on bias, hyperbole, regional angst, division, and a 3rd grade understanding of governing… let alone being a governor of the 6th largest state in America…
- skutt - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:06 am:
==you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.==
Oddly enough, I’ve managed to live here for the past 30 years and have never once been shot. What I see is a plan that will result in the city of Chicago having to pay out even more millions to the victims of abusive cops while making it even harder to identify them and get them out of the police force. There is more to crime prevention than unleashing a police force with a history of abuse and corruption on a civilian population without any recourse from said population and there is more to crime prevention than just locking people up. Is there a crime problem here? Yes, are these proposed solutions going to fix it? No.
- Lakefront - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:06 am:
The plan itself? Meh. Pretty generic. As to the Ad, solid B. If you were a Republican primary voter who’d never heard him speak you might see him as a viable option just from his tv spots.
- Lefty Lefty - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:11 am:
How are bad cops currently held accountable? How can they be made more accountable?
Can anyone who defends the pre-SAFE-T Act status quo answer this for me?
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:12 am:
==This “get tough on crime” rhetoric is already sounding like a broken record. ==
Which means it’s probably just starting to break through.
==will resonate with people who see it and are not overly critical (like the commenters here)==
Right, bc your average voter, unlike someone on CapFax, just loves politicians and political ads and is always giving them the benefit of the doubt.
- The Dude Abides - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:16 am:
As far as I know Governor Pritzker isn’t in favor of defunding the police. This commercial will appeal to the downstate crowd that talks about kicking Chicago out of Illinois. I haven’t seen anything yet to suggest that Sullivan is a serious candidate.
- vern - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:20 am:
This might just be a personal bugaboo, but I’d love to see politicians talk more about crimes that the police don’t address at all. Everyone with a cell phone is experiencing at least a few attempted frauds per week, but the only suggestion the police have is “block the number.” Pretty irrelevant considering how far advanced spoofing technology is.
Another example is wage theft. My guess is that a worker who walks into a police station to complain that they weren’t paid earned overtime isn’t going to get the same treatment as one whose pocket got picked, even though the only difference is the mechanism of the theft.
And, of course, the Chicago Police Department did absolutely nothing as Uber and Lyft broke the city’s taxi licensing system by operating in a flagrantly illegal manner a few years back. Even if you agree that the regulations were too exclusive, endemic lawbreaking shouldn’t be a tolerated lobbying tactic.
The “defund the police” movement unfortunately
crowded out a lot of progressive reform ideas. Most importantly, we should be redefining police to address all crime, instead of focusing just on newsworthy crime or crime committed by poor people.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:22 am:
“it go to voicemail”
Unfortunately, the voice mail box has not been setup.
- SaulGoodman - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:31 am:
**Anything is better; you can’t even visit Chicago and enjoy yourself anymore.**
The only people that make this claim are the people that never visit Chicago anyway.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:44 am:
=This is not a serious plan=
But likely not all that different than anything that will be advanced by Sullivan’s primary opponents. It’s not as if he’s the only candidate that’s decided to make crime front and center. And therein lies the problem. Saying the same thing as Irvin, Bailey, and Rabine isn’t going to get him much. What exactly in this ad would make someone choose Sullivan over any of his counterparts?
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:49 am:
-The only people that make this claim are the people that never visit Chicago anyway.-
Right, and if they are downstate GOP Primary voters they really don’t care about Chicago at all. If they are closer to Chicago maybe it resonates, but I’m not sure that having a Sheriff from your home county with 12K people in it vouch for you demonstrates you are serious about urban crime prevention efforts. Totally different worlds.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 10:56 am:
I believe the ISP are understaffed right now, and I doubt their rules would allow them to serve as fill-ins on local police departments. As for the National Guard, do they have the requisite law enforcement training to do that? Would their rules allow them? Do we really want to add another layer of police, along with city, county, state, and federal?
I can see where sheriffs would like this plan, as well as the GOP base. The rest of us? Meh.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:00 am:
==But likely not all that different than anything that will be advanced by Sullivan’s primary opponents.==
Indeed, it’s better than Irvin’s plan, which is “No plan, but I was around when other people did stuff.”
- RNUG - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:06 am:
You can pick apart various agenda items, but there are a few worth considering. I really, the ad plays to the law and order crowd.
However, the biggest flaw in the proposal is including / using the National Guard. Aside from the fact that NG members maybe pulled away from their civilian jobs doing the same activity, the last thing the State needs is another military / paramilitary force of varying training. This should send chills to both liberals and conservatives. Much better to pursue filling open vacancies and / or even expanding staffing where needed.
- walker - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:09 am:
B
Will appeal to those who know little about Chicago, and almost nothing about the SAFE-T Act. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of voters.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:10 am:
Rated the plan, to the video?
The video is a “B, B+”, knowing who they want this to target and “reach”, relying on the things I discussed up top; anger, regional angst, fear… and hoping to make a dent without any accountability to the honesty of the argument or the rationale to implement any of it.
For the politics… it’s a positive to a campaign
- OneMan - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:11 am:
What a surprise a group of Sheriffs is suggesting a pay increase for Sheriffs. It would seem that should be left up to counties.
==Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.==
What? Think someone has seen too many episodes of Texas SWAT. How would that even work?
==
Protect police officers from threats of frivolous civil lawsuits in the course of doing their jobs and safeguard municipal budgets that would otherwise face increased litigation and insurance rates.
End the allowance of anonymous citizen complaints against officers.
==
Because we know law enforcement has never engaged in retaliation for stuff, there is no reason anyone would want to remain anonymous when filing a complaint against any entity of government.
Also how often are officers found personally civilly liable for their actions in this state, any state for that matter? Come on….
== Do what Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot by working with neighboring states to share data, information, and tactics to target illegal drugs, guns, and gang activity. ==
You really think NW Indiana is going to share gun purchase information with the state of Illinois?
- Amalia - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:14 am:
it’s cream puff. no real connection to reality because no money.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:19 am:
== I’d love to see politicians talk more about crimes that the police don’t address at all. ==
Yeah, like the murder crimes the police are committing.
https://patch.com/illinois/plainfield/s/i55rm/samantha-harer-heres-why-flores-wasnt-re-interviewed
This is why I don’t take anyone seriously who tries to make the claim that bringing accountability to police is somehow a bad thing.
In the above situation, the BEST case scenario is that the deputy chief is incompetent. And still nothing happens. The ‘politician’ in this case not saying anything, is the local mayor who appointed the police chief.
How much less accountability can there possibly be than there is right now.
- Back to the Future - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:29 am:
As to the Ad, I would give it an A. Moved along, made points and the music was pretty good.
Disagree that the hit on Irwin was “a too-subtle poke” at Irwin. It appeared to me to be a very direct hit on Irwin.
In terms of the Sheriffs support for the plan- - that is a big plus. It shows Sullivan seeks out ideas and is more than willing to include law enforcement folks in coming up with solutions.
The comments by the Sheriff of Menard County about Jesse Sullivan having a record of working with inmates in his jail facility, to me, was particularly impressive. We need leaders that have empathy for fellow residents that are incarcerated and need more than just jail time to figure out a better path for themselves.
- Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:34 am:
Rate it a D. It does nothing to differentiate him from the competition. Also, to Vern’s point, misses opportunities to help citizens.
His proposed misuse of the National Guard costs him points.
- Occasional Quipper - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:36 am:
=== The plan, which includes no funding mechanisms ===
Since when is that a concern to politicians making promises in either party? The only suggestion I would make is for him to get some glasses with plano lenses so he doesn’t look like he just got out of college.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 11:59 am:
===It appeared to me to be a very direct hit on Irwin. ===
The ad requires viewers to add two plus two and get four. Never a good idea.
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 12:13 pm:
If you can’t enjoy yourself for whatever reason we don’t want you here.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 12:14 pm:
==It appeared to me to be a very direct hit on Irwin.==
Sorta, but rn, I bet most voters don’t even know that Irvin is the mayor of Aurora.
- vern - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 12:35 pm:
=== f you can’t enjoy yourself for whatever reason we don’t want you here. ===
Cheryl I know you mean Chicago but I had to laugh because I thought “here” meant the comments section, where your point also applies
- Left of what - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 12:49 pm:
“Let’s fill those prisons up and also you can’t hold cops accountable for their actions” - Jesse Sullivan
- G'Kar - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 12:57 pm:
I listen to a report on NPR this morning about Texas Governor’s use of the Guard in a policing duty at the border. It has been pretty much a failure–morale has plummeted (this is not what we signed up for), and the soldiers are well on their way to forming a union. Even Texas Republicans are beginning to argue it was a bad idea.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 1:19 pm:
==it will resonate with people who see it and are not overly critical==
Like giving police carte blanche then acting surprised when they waste $67 million on mistakes and misconduct?
https://tinyurl.com/mr28wz8d
- West Side the Best Side - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 1:25 pm:
Gotta agree about not enjoying yourself in Chicago anymore. Since Daley’s parking meter deal and general love of parking meters even in neighborhoods, it seems like it costs a monthly car loan payment for long term parking. I mean, that comment was about parking, wasn’t it?
- Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 3:22 pm:
Beware those in whom the desire to punish is strong…even those who pray with convicts…while seeking to further punish them.
- Payback - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 3:29 pm:
“…leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.” This point from Sullivan totally proves that he has never been in the military, and never took the oath. Even recruits are educated about the fact that the civil authorities are in charge of law enforcement, not the military. One of the reasons the Americans split from the British crown was because of abuses of the civilian population by British troops searching and burning their homes, etc.
If you think the Texas National Guard helicopters and armored personnel carriers at the Branch Davidian massacre was a good thing, vote for Sullivan.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 1, 22 @ 6:39 pm:
===In terms of the Sheriffs support for the plan- - that is a big plus. It shows Sullivan seeks out ideas and is more than willing to include law enforcement folks in coming up with solutions.===
How will it be paid for, how will implementation look like, can the play get 60/71, 30/36…
A plan that can’t pass or be implemented isn’t much of a good plan.
The ad? The ad is a “B/B+”