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* Amanda Vinicky…
Major changes to Illinois’ criminal justice system that passed in the wake of George Floyd’s murder will begin to take effect Thursday, including a requirement that police track and report to the state incidents in which officers use a gun on someone, when use of force results in death or serious injury, and when they’re dispatched to deal with someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
“Most folks, when they think about the SAFE-T Act, all they think about is the end of cash bail and that is just one segment of the overall plan,” said state Sen. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat and attorney who was a lead negotiator on the omnibus law.
Cash bail won’t be abolished until 2023, and all police officers in Illinois have until 2025 to be equipped with body cameras.
Sims said the timeline was purposefully staggered to give state’s attorneys, courts and local police departments time to get up to speed on those changes.
“Change takes time … while you may not feel an immediate impact on day one, what you will see is a change in the culture,” Sims said. “We wanted to face these items head-on. We have for far too long legislated around the margins, for far too long we have not addressed these issues head-on.”
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 3:29 am
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Me thinks the timing of the implementation had as much to do with the 2022 election as anything. Maybe.
Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 6:29 am
Well JB was enthusiastically support by black voters, so why would he not respond to his constituents very vocal and clear demands? how is that different than responding to any other voting block?
And do you think the GOP running around screaming about how the world will descend into chaos is NOT about 2022?
Comment by The House Rules Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 6:40 am
You won’t see a culture change until you have new officers with leaders that embrace the communities they are sworn to serve and protect and political leadership will do what is right, not what is easy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/us/first-consent-decree-police-abuse-pittsburgh.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/police-reform-failure/
Comment by Shield Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 8:38 am
Four tenths of one percent, or .4%.
That’s the number of police involved shootings vs. total shootings in the city of Chicago in 2021.
This new initiative, along with “defund the police” by dispatching behavioral representatives to the shooting scenes is certain to make Chicago safe again. /s/
Comment by Blue Line Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 9:33 am
=And do you think the GOP running around screaming about how the world will descend into chaos is NOT about 2022?=
Sure. But you could have some guy arrested for some lesser crime, who is released without bail, and goes and murders someone later in the day. Which isn’t to say that couldn’t happen without the new law, he could post bail and do the same thing as easily as he could not post bail and do it. But you’d rather the GOP campaign on the possibility of this happening vs with a victims mom in the as or whatever.
Comment by George Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 9:40 am
“This new initiative, along with “defund the police” by dispatching behavioral representatives to the shooting scenes is certain to make Chicago safe again. /s/”
agreed- more do-nothing legislation -appeals to the dem base but has no utility. Similar to Chicago/Cook county restrictive 2A limitations on legal gun owners - yet have out of control illegal use of firearms resulting in injuries and deaths.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 10:04 am
Good. Reform of police procedures. Now move on to what causes the vastly bigger number of deaths and injuries in the Black community, civilian on civilian shootings. Look up..not at WBEZ which has it wrong, but with citizen journalists….just how many people are out on bail and doing another shooting. the cases are really adding up. Be more careful about letting people out on bail. And arrested for the first time with a gun that is not owned legally is against the law, Kim Foxx….enforce the law. Many gun sales are legal but some end up in hands illegally…and we should not condone that.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 10:46 am
=agreed- more do-nothing legislation -appeals to the dem base but has no utility.=
You may want to take a look at what the City of Chicago has paid out in wrongful police shootings. Lots of utility there. It is possible to simultaneously recognize violence in our cities AND the need for improved policing. It is not an either or issue.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 10:53 am
The “change in culture” over time will be for the worst.
Comment by MOON Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 11:03 am
=agreed- more do-nothing legislation -appeals to the dem base but has no utility.=
I’m confused, is the SAFE-T Act “do-nothing legislation” or is it the end of law enforcement as we know it? Make up your mind.
Comment by charles in charge Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 11:04 am
https://www.wbez.org/stories/re-imagine-chicago-how-to-implement-reforms-at-cpd/87788aa7-b2c8-46e5-9975-ca5663884d1f
Comment by Jockey Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 11:06 am
It’s sad to watch Chicago area Democrats patting themselves on the back for their supposed huge gains in police reform. They are constantly outmaneuvered by the police unions that don’t want any change at all. The Black Caucus passes the bill, then the police unions and small town legislators squawk and get their HB 3443 “trailer bill” passed to negate any gains that were made.
Here’s the “mandatory body cam” language from PA 102-0028: “(3) Cameras must be turned on at all times when the officer is in uniform (how about detectives and plainclothes teams? Great work!) and is responding to calls for service or engaged in any law enforcement-related encounter or activity, that occurs while the officer is on duty. (A) If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as practicable.”
“Exigent circumstances”?! Congratulations to Elgie Sims and all the self-described police reformers in the legislature. You gave police criminals a giant hole in the bill that they can drive a truck through.
Comment by Payback Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 12:26 pm
- charles in charge - Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 11:04 am:
=agreed- more do-nothing legislation -appeals to the dem base but has no utility.=
I’m confused, is the SAFE-T Act “do-nothing legislation” or is it the end of law enforcement as we know it? Make up your mind.
Answer Charles in Charges’ question…unless he has you in a logical chokehold.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 12:33 pm
=That’s the number of police involved shootings vs. total shootings in the city of Chicago in 2021.=
Interested to hear your views on gun control. I’m assuming you’re pro?
Comment by LakeCo Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 2:15 pm
=== This new initiative, along with “defund the police” by dispatching behavioral representatives to the shooting scenes is certain to make Chicago safe again.===
Chicago didn’t defund the police.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 3:29 pm
“Four tenths of one percent, or .4%”
Police officers make up .004% of Chicago residents.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Police_Department
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 3:34 pm
Don’t trust Wikipedia numbers. When I worked for the Ci8tynof Chicago the target was 13,500 sworn officers for a population of 2.7 million. That was 1 for every 200 citizens.
At that time Naperville had one officer for every 750 residents. I think the numbers are different now, but not dramatically different.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 3:50 pm
“Four tenths of one percent, or .4%. That’s the number of police involved shootings vs. total shootings in the city of Chicago in 2021.”
Statistics? Cool.
Speaking of numbers, Chicago police only solve about 4 of every 10 murders in the city. That number includes when a killer is “identified” by police but don’t have enough evidence to for prosecutors to mount a case.
That seems like something that police might to put their energy into rather than bemoaning requirements that they track and report incidents when they use a gun on someone.
Or when they seriously injure someone.
Or when they kill someone.
“This new initiative, along with ‘defund the police’ by dispatching behavioral representatives to the shooting scenes is certain to make Chicago safe again.”
Chicago didn’t defund the police.
Decades of emphasis solely on policing and police funding are exactly the circumstances that put us where we are today.
So if you think Chicago is unsafe, the cause must be what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been funding — not something that you imagine might happen some day, sometime in the future.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Jun 29, 21 @ 4:54 pm