Since the Summer of 2021, we have raised the question as to whether Chicago was becoming a Hadleyville. In the 1952 film classic High Noon, the fictional town of Hadleyville was the setting for an epic tale of a broken bond between a community and its marshal. There gunmen openly sought to murder the town marshal, at “high noon,” without any concern the town would stand up in support of the rule of law. Polling this month by the firm Schoen Cooperman Research (SCR) suggests most Chicago voters want greater public safety. That polling is in advance of the 4 April 2023 runoff election for Mayor of Chicago. The polling data also shows most Chicago voters support the Chicago Police Department (CPD). [Click the link below to read more.]
Category: SAFE-T Act
The name of the Illinois SAFE-T Act is an acronym, which stands for “Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today.” The SAFE-T Act was packaged as a criminal justice reform initiative by its sponsors in the Illinois General Assembly.
However, the act was hastily crafted and has come under widespread criticism for its increasingly negative impact on public safety. Nearly none (or more likely none) of the members of the Illinois General Assembly fully read the 764-page bill before the assembly’s Democratic supermajority voted to pass it. The legislation was approved in the dead of the night on 13 January 2021, during the final minutes of the 101st Session of the Illinois legislature. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law in February 2021 over the objections of prosecutors and law enforcement professionals across Illinois.
Our founder, Thomas Lemmer, first wrote on the passage and consequences of the SAFE-T Act in his article “The Importance of “Us:” The Failure of Being Cast as Them.” The article was published in the February 2021 issue of the National FOP Journal. See our additional posts relating to this legislation below.
A Chicago Crime Microcosm Story
Single, easily observed and understood examples can be extremely valuable. Such microcosm events help to provide clarity. They are useful in addressing public policy issues that have been deliberately obscured by political motivations. Politics have complicated the public policy discussion relative to crime. In cities across the nation, Americans have experienced declining public safety and rising lawlessness. Yesterday, CWB Chicago reported on the robbery of a pregnant woman. That single crime event is a microcosm story. It provides an opportunity for some much needed clarity on several key points. It is an important community policing bad news and good news moment. [Click the link below to read more.]
THE Pandemic Still an AP Crime Bogeyman
The Associated Press (AP) continues to publish stories suggesting a causation link between THE pandemic and crime. No, not investigative journalism seeking to examine whether a virus was created through banned gain of function research. Not journalism suggesting the use of a biological weapon as a war crime. Simply, crime and violence on our streets. AP continues to cite THE pandemic as a key explanation for the continuing lawlessness that exploded in 2020 across America. As we all know, the spark of that explosion occurred in May 2020 in Minneapolis. Yet, let us not forget, that just days before that spark, the news media was citing THE pandemic as the reason why crime in America was declining. It is beyond time to stop using THE pandemic as a bogeyman to gloss over the lawlessness issue that persists in far too much of our nation. [Click the link below to read more.]
More on IL SAFE-T Act Risks
In August, we posted on the bad news ahead for public safety in Illinois beginning on 1 January 2023. The posting provided a review of key changes to the criminal justice system that are coming with the full implementation of the Illinois SAFE-T Act. In fact, all but two of the 102 elected state’s attorneys in Illinois have expressed concerns about the changes that await the state. The already enacted changes include: (1) severe restrictions on when the courts can order even violent offenders to be held in custody prior to trial; (2) procedural obstacles in the ability of judges to issue warrants for offenders who fail to appear in court; and (3) the prohibition of police officers from making any physical arrests for public order crimes like trespassing. Here in this post, we provide two additional interviews as recommended resources. [Click the link below to read more.]
IL Public Safety, Bad News Ahead
In Illinois, state’s attorneys are the elected county prosecutors. They represent the people of their respective counties in court. When 100 out of 102 elected state’s attorneys have a warning, then the people are wise to listen. The coming full implementation of the SAFE-T Act in January 2023 will make Illinois far less safe. On 5 August 2022, AM560’s Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson, from Chicago’s Morning Answer, interviewed two county prosecutors from the Chicago area. One Republican, Robert Berlin, from DuPage, County. One Democrat, James Glasgow, from Will County. They are agreed. Public safety will be jeopardized. Law-abiding citizens will be confronted by emboldened criminals, and the police and prosecutors will be far less able to do much about it. The full interview is a highly-recommended resource. [Click the link below to read more.]