Will County Gazette

The City of Joliet, led by Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, has passed a resolution asking the General Assembly to review the SAFE-T Act.

O'Dekirk and 2023 mayoral opponent Tycee Bell took part in the resolution discussion before the City Council passed the resolution in a 5-3 vote.

"I know practically every judge at the county courthouse," the mayor said. "I don't know one judge, Democrat or Republican, that supports this bill. I know our Democrat state's attorney has come out and condemned it. I know the Republican judge who is the primary judge for the felony, a felony call has come out and condemned it. So again, Mr. Bell, you spoke about bringing your own experiences while I've been in the criminal justice system involved for 29 years as a police officer, as a prosecutor and as a criminal defense attorney. And my experiences tell me that this bill is a disaster for our community."

Bell, a proponent of the SAFE-T Act, has posted myths about the law on Facebook, and encouraged residents to educate themselves about the bill.

“We need to focus on the facts, and we need to get some real information out there on the SAFE-T Act,” Bell told the council, according to Shaw Local.

The measure passed by. council urges state lawmakers to revise the parts of the bill focusing on the elimination of cash bail and limitations on police officers' discretion. Joliet Council supports parts of the bill, including body cameras for police officers and use of force training, but the council says that the bill does more bad than good.

"The City of Joliet encourages legislators to work with public safety representatives and all community stakeholders to fix remaining problems with the SAFE-T Act; including, but not limited to, unreasonably limiting the imposition of cash bail, unreasonably limiting police officer discretion to make arrests, imposing unreasonable police certification and decertification standards, and mandating unreasonable custodial accommodations," the Joliet City Council resolution reads, Patch reported.

McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally, on behalf of 50 other state's attorneys, filed a motion against Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Attorney General Raoul challenging the SAFE-T Act, arguing that it is unconstitutional. 

Kenneally told WTTW, "All of a sudden at the 11th hour in lame duck session (in January 2021), they sprung this thing. They strong-armed and excluded prosecutors, as well as police, as well as other people involved in the criminal justice system from any type of negotiations. They forced this thing through and now we’re left with the fallout." 

Opponents of the cash-bail-elimination provision, say defendants accused of robbery, kidnapping, second-degree murder, and drug-related homicide, among other crimes, will be released prior to their trials, Prairie State Wire reported.

One hundred of Illinois' 102 state's attorneys are pushing back against the SAFE-T Act. DuPage County State's Attorney Bill Berlin and a group of bipartisan colleagues plan to ask the General Assembly later this year to reconsider portions of the bill. If that fails, they may take the matter to court. Berlin said that there are "categories of offenses, such as all drug offenses – all aggravated DUIs, and all forcible felonies for which you can receive probation, which include robbery, burglary, arson, aggravated battery – where judges have no discretion. They cannot detain defendants in those cases unless they find the state proves the person is a ‘willful flight risk.'" 

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow is also pushing back against the bill. "When criminals realize there are no boundaries, they are more brazen," Glasgow said. "They’ll do even more crimes." 

Pressure is mounting against the SAFE-T Act, and the fight against it is just beginning, Matt Rosenberg, Wirepoints, wrote in the Madison-St. Clair Record.

The consolidated election will be held April 4.