SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Republican lawmakers in Illinois say the police reform measure signed into law last year isn’t working, so they would like to see it repealed.
That includes Peoria State Representative Ryan Spain, who says part of the problem was one of the usuals in Springfield.
“This legislation was introduced at 3 a.m. on January 13th (2021),” said Spain, at a virtual news conference. “It contains more than 700 pages of legislative text. It was debated on the House floor for 30 minutes, with only two Republican legislators being recognized and allowed to ask questions about this bill.”
And, Spain says, it passed with the minimum number of votes needed in the House.
Since then, Spain says the “SAFE-T Act”, which included ending cash bail, and addressing police misconduct, among other things, has only resulted in higher crime rates.
“In my community, my hometown, of Peoria, we had 34 homicides (in 2021). When I served on the City Council for ten years in Peoria, if we came anywhere close to 20 homicides in our community, it was a city-wide crisis,” said Spain. “Now it’s just a regular day in the State of Illinois.”
Spain and other House Republicans are introducing a resolution to encourage a repeal of the SAFE-T Act. They would like to see Democrats work with them to craft some sort of better legislation.
