Will County Gazette

Steve Balich said we might as well be clear about the terminology.

“Defunding the police is saying cut the numbers of police. This is asking to fund the increase of crime or should I say breaking the law with no consequence since your chance of getting caught will be decreased,” Balich said of calls to defund police departments in Chicago, New York City, Minneapolis and other cities.

Balich, a Republican from Homer Glen, is a member of the Will County Board representing District 7. Prior to being elected to the board in 2012, he was the Homer Township clerk for four years and a trustee for eight years.

Steve Balich | Will County Board

He drove trucks for 20 years, earned a real estate broker’s license and sold retirement plans, and has adopted his views on law enforcement based on his government career and education — he earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from St. Xavier University in Chicago with a minor in psychology and emphasis on elementary education. He is currently three classes short of a master’s degree in heath science from Governor’s State University.

Balich has been an advocate for community safety, organizing and implementing programs in Homer Glen, Lockport and unincorporated Homer Township that include Yellow Dot medical information for vehicles, File for Life medical information for homes, cell phone donations, early warning weather system and CPR and First Aid classes, according to his Will County Board biography.

He said law enforcement already has a massive job to accomplish. Reducing its funding will only make things worse for everyone.

“When police are called now, there is a time lag of when the situation is happening and when the police arrive,” Balich said. “That's one reason people need to be able to defend themselves. Problem is going back to the Wild West is not a good idea, either. With police rushing toward the problem, they can either take control or get the facts first hand.”

He is aware of the complaints and the problems with police misconduct — and worse.

“Sure, there are some bad individuals that are police, but every profession has some bad people,” Balich said. “It is wrong to put a negative light on a group that serves and protects all of us because of a few wrongful incidents. Anyone thinks they can work day after day defending the law against criminals that will do what it takes to get what they want, including extreme violence.”

He offers some advice for those who think they could do a better job.

“If you feel like handling situations without being assertive and using some level of force, you need to join Peter Pan in ‘Neverland,’” Balich said.

The reality is, we live in a world of flawed humans, with most trying to do their best. He said police departments have improved over the years.

“When I was young police were not bound by the same rules of engagement,” Balich said. “Police may have slapped you around but then told you to leave without arresting you, and inflicting a permanent record making it harder to get employment.”

Like anyone, people in law enforcement are changed by their experiences, he said. That explains some issues that have risen to national attention.

“Police live in a tough environment. A social worker would probably be a bad cop,” Balich said. “A teacher would most likely not physically confront a 240-pound, 6-foot-4 criminal. Most people would not get in the middle of a fight or confront an angry person with a knife, hammer, ax, gun, or other weapon.”

In fact, he suspects there are ulterior motives at play.

“So this concept of defunding the police is equivalent to putting a huge hole in a dam but letting crime flow through,” Balich said. “The left wants to defund police as a means of destroying America from within — cultural Marxism. Black lives matter, and so do white, Latin, Asian, and Indian, but the left always push a group to make division.

“If the left really cared about blacks and others they would push for school vouchers, and things like helping the family to have a father that is involved,” he said. “The left would stop using terrible programs to teach our children like common core. The left would stop indoctrination of the concepts of white privilege, social engineering, gender persecution, etc., starting in our grade schools where our children are most impressionable.”

In his view, the left are Marxists and the media acts in concert with it, pushing a socialist message to the public.

“The media is supported by elites who push their agenda of socialism,” Balich said. “The schools are the training ground. As a result of all the push from schools and media labeling police as bad is the opposite of the truth and just another way to destroy American culture and society.”

Reforming police departments is a good idea, in his view — “but not right after a vicious attack by the media showing only the brutality of the police and not telling us how many police were killed or injured in the latest riots.”

Balich, a member of the Will County Tea Party Alliance and Homer Lockport Tea Party, said there is a side to the story that has not been told enough.

“The real victims of the death of George Floyd beside Floyd are the innocent business owners that had their struggling place of business looted, damaged, or burned by the thugs seizing an opportunity and anarchists,” he said. “We cannot let the left’s narrative of cops being bad push a reform that allows violence, theft, intimidation, and mayhem. What on earth will our society be with reforms based on the narrative of the media?”

Balich said it’s apparent we need police officers to ensure safety and protect us from those who would prey on the innocent.

I know defunding the police won't make us safe,” he said. “Who are we going to call, ‘Ghostbusters?’ — ‘cause there will be no one to call and no one that can actually do anything to help.”