* I shared her full report with subscribers yesterday, but here’s Heather Wier Vaught’s rundown of public safety bills which passed this spring…
* Car hijacking: The Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Preventing and Insurance Verification Council will provide grants and financial support to help identify, apprehend, and prosecute hijackers and recovery hijacked and stolen vehicles. It also must develop strategies for combating hijackings and improving how laws are administered (HB3699 Delgado/Martwick). Additionally, language was approved to protect those who receive red light tickets as a result of car hijackings (HB 3772 Delgado/Aquino).
* Ghost Guns: Bans sale and possession of ghost guns which are untraceable due to lack of a serial number (HB 4383 Buckner/Collins).
* Expressway cameras: The Expressway Camera Act was expanded to include Lake Shore Drive and allows the use of images from the cameras to investigate and prosecute car hijackings, terrorism, or any forcible felony (HB 260 Williams/Feigenholtz). The law was also expanded to cover 21 additional counties (HB 4481 Greenwood/Murphy).
* Assistance for first responders: Requires DHS to provide grant programs for (i) childcare centers to provide late night care for children of first responders and other late-shift workers (HB 1571 Manley/Glowiak Hilton); (ii) local law enforcement, fire districts, schools, hospitals, and ambulance services to provide behavioral health services for first responders (HB 1321 LaPointe/Hastings); (iii) local governments for mental health and substance use prevention for individuals who are incarcerated and individuals in county jails or recently discharged. (HB 4364 Tarver/Loughran Cappel); (iv) departments for officer hiring and training and retention strategies (HB 3863 Vella/Morrison). To aid with retention and recruitment, the General Assembly approved (i) a program to review the standards for transferring credits from community colleges to 4-year colleges to satisfy requirements for law enforcement positions, and allow officers to purchase their guns and badges (HB 1568 Vella/Martwick); and (ii) create a waiver process for out-of-state officers wishing to work in Illinois (HB 4608 Delgado/Bennett).
* Victim protections: To aid victims, (i) investigators will receive instruction and training on victim-centered, trauma-informed investigations; (ii) grants were approved to set up anonymous tip hotlines with cash rewards for info that leads to an arrest; (iii) aspects of the witness protection program are expanded, and a pilot program is established whereby social workers will work alongside law enforcement officers (HB 4736 Gordon-Booth/Peters). The bill also creates a task force to review researched based methods for reducing crime.
* Smash-and-grabs: The General Assembly approved IRMA’s initiative to deter smash-and-grab thefts and moves to resell stolen goods online. The bill creates a new organized retail theft crime and gives the Attorney General and local prosecutors additional tools to prosecute offenders (HB 1091 Buckner/Glowiak Hilton).
* Officer worn cameras: allows officers to identify video they believe has evidentiary value, and clarifies when an officer does not have to have a camera turned on. (HB 4608 (Delgado/Bennett)
* Eavesdropping: Extends the sunsets on laws that allow investigators to recording conversations for qualified sex and drug offenses (date moved from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2027), and the Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law (date moved to June 11, 2023) (HB 3893 (Hernandez/Joyce).
* Gun storage campaign: Department of Public Health must conduct a multi-year safe gun storage campaign (HB 4729 Willis/Morrison).
* Burglary: Updates the definition of burglary tools to include new technologies (HB601 Andrade/Gillespie).
* Meanwhile, Deputy House Republican Leader Tom Demmer appeared with other legislative leaders on Chicago Tonight…
(W)hat is the message that the majority party today, Democrats who control the governor’s office, the Senate in the house, what’s the message they’re sending about how serious they are about addressing the public safety issues in Illinois? We’ve had a record level of retirements and resignations from police officers and sheriff’s deputies. We have a system in place right now that come January a carjacker will be back on the streets mere hours after they’ve committed their carjacking because cash bail has been abolished. We have to ask about what’s the longer-running narrative there. This was never an issue that was just related to the to the Prisoner Review Board. This is about a larger approach of what does it take to achieve public safety and which party is actually looking out for people every day.
The host attempted to change the subject to a budget question, but Senate President Don Harmon wanted to respond first to Leader Demmer…
Paris, I’ll answer that question, but I have to respond [crosstalk]. Republicans have clearly latched on to this political strategy that doesn’t match with reality. Democrats are voting to fund police. Representative Demmer’s notion that cash bail is going to release people is upside down. Today, a carjacker can bail out so long as he has enough money. When the new bail system is put into place, those people can be held in jail pending trial because they’re a danger to the community. This is, it’s fear mongering and panic. It is totally inappropriate. I’ll leave it at that.
…Adding… House Speaker Chris Welch was asked today if he is confident that the crime bill is better today than it was a year ago…
I’m very confident in what we passed a year ago. I want to make sure people understand that we never bought into the false narrative created by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. What we passed a year ago was monumental, historic legislation celebrated by people as high as the Supreme Court of this state. Advocates believed the work that we did was extremely important.
What we did this session was continue to listen to the people that send us to Springfield. We know that carjackings have been a problem, we responded to that. We know that organized retail theft has been a problem, we responded to that. We know that ghost guns have been a problem, we responded to that. We continue to make our state a safer place. We even included half a billion dollars in our budget toward public safety, and what did our friends on the other side of the aisle do? They voted no to a half a billion dollars in things that are going to increase public safety. And so what what I like to point out is, there’s only one party in this state that’s voting to defund the police. There’s only one state in this party that is voting to defund youth investment programs. And that’s not the Democratic Party. I’m proud of the work that we’ve done for public safety. And we’re going to continue to build on that.
…Adding… Jesse Sullivan campaign…
“Illinois families deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. But J.B. Pritzker and the insider politicians are more interested in protecting criminals and handcuffing our cops than providing the real change that law enforcement is asking for.
“The Democrats hope that election-year gimmicks – bills that nibble around the edges – will trick voters into forgetting that Kim Foxx is releasing criminals out of jail and refusing to enforce our laws.
“They’re hoping voters will forget that Pritzker refused to bring law enforcement to the table to fix his disastrous anti-police bill.
“They’re hoping voters will ignore the rising crime in their communities and reward the insider politicians responsible.
“If we want real change, we need a real outsider. That’s why more than 20 sheriffs, state’s attorneys and law-enforcement leaders around Illinois are backing me and my Safe Streets Plan, and why the voters are going to demand real change this election.”
* Related…
* ADDED: CPD makes significant headway on reform but still grapples with longstanding problems, consent decree monitor says: In an unusual move, the court-appointed monitor, Maggie Hickey, included a letter in the report that reiterates much of her team’s criticism and slams members of the department “who believe crime reduction is separate from, or even opposed to, reform efforts. Constitutional and effective policing — and the Consent Decree — requires the CPD and its officers to reduce crime as community partners, which requires building, maintaining, and rigorously protecting community trust and confidence,” wrote Hickey, a former federal prosecutor.
* Illinois lawmakers pass bill to combat organized retail theft - Retailers call it one of strongest responses in nation, GOP says it doesn’t do enough: Republicans, for the most part, voted for the bill, but several GOP lawmakers called it watered down and removed their names as cosponsors after a late amendment was filed to appease crime victims groups and civil liberties organizations.
* Illinois State Legislature Looks to Target Crime Through Series of Recently Passed Bills: A previous version of the proposal would have penalized anyone who took part in a planned group theft of a store with organized retail theft. After negotiations, the measure is limited to penalizing the leaders or organizers.
* John Catanzara defends proposal to add 2 years to his term as police union president: That would allow Catanzara to remain in office until 2025, instead of facing reelection two years earlier — while the campaign for mayor is also taking place.
