North Cook News

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) argues slowing Illinois’ rising crime rates needs to start with the repeal of the SAFE-T Act rushed into law by Democrats early last year.

“Democrats have filed a lot of legislation to change our criminal laws over the last decade and they've been focused on decriminalizing, defelonizing and making as many excuses as they can for criminal behavior,” Mazzochi said at a recent news conference. “Last year, during a lame-duck session, we got a few hours to look at a 764-page piece of legislation and we got a half-hour of debate. They’ve called the bill the SAFE-T Act, but in reality it was hasty and it was in poor judgment. We warned you that this would make crime even worse. You can't pass a bill designed to defund, demoralize and decertify police officers and expect that much good is going to come of that.”

A member of the Illinois House Judicial Criminal Committee, Mazzochi argues that the repercussions have been even too much for Democrats.  

“The Democrats passed this legislation in the middle of the night under cover of darkness precisely because they didn't want the people to know what they were doing,” she said. “They didn't want the people to have input because ordinary people know that this is not common sense to make lives harder for police officers and easier for criminals. Now that the chickens have come home to roost, the Democrats are hearing from the public and the people are not happy. Now you know the Democrats are making all kinds of noise that they really do like the police, they want to fund the police, and they're trying to backtrack off their prior votes in the hopes that you're going to forget exactly what they voted for by.”

Mazzochi said if Democrats have truly seen the errors of their ways there’s only one way for them to prove it.

“If they want to make sure the people's voice actually counts, they should sign on to our legislation, such as House Bill 4499 to make sure that they can actually go on record and say we do not agree with this, we regret our vote and we’re willing to turn things around and actually start getting back to the negotiating table so we can have a meaningful discussion with the input of the people so that we don't create yet another criminal law disaster,” she said.

Since the bill that mandates body cameras for all officers and the end of the cash-bail system for all non-violent offenders became law, critics note violent crime is up across much of the state. In addition, a record number of officers have also resigned, with more than half of the state’s 102 counties now having a vacancy in the sheriff's office.

“The SAFE-T Act was not the way,” Mazzoch said. “It shouldn't be the way; it shouldn't be allowed to continue forward. It should be repealed.”

State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) is among the Republican lawmakers now pushing legislation aimed at getting the job done.

Caulkins’ SAFE-T Act amendment bill seeks to increase the penalties for criminals who use a gun in an aggravated carjacking. That bill will also require a district attorney and a judge to submit an explanation if they choose to allow a suspect to plead a gun case down to a lesser charge.

“If someone gets arrested, a felon in possession of a gun, or illegal discharge of a gun, or using the gun in commission of a crime, what we’re saying in this bill ... the public has a right to know why,” Caulkins said. “If they plead that out, and say we’re just getting you for aggravated battery and drop the gun charges, the public ought to know why that happened.”