McLean County Times

State Rep. Keith P. Sommer (R-Morton) has said House Bill 3653 is proving to be everything he feared it would be.

"In February of 2021, Governor Pritzker signed the quickly drafted and un-vetted SAFE-T Act into law,” Sommer said in a post to his website. “The Safety Accountability, Fairness & Equity Today Act was purported to keep Illinois families safer. But, that has not been the outcome for those who are already battling violence in their neighborhoods.”

Republicans have been quick to point out since the law was enacted, violent crime has increased in much of Chicago, including murders, expressway shootings, carjackings, assaults, armed robberies, smash and grabs and mob retail theft.  

According to the Caucus Blog, crime is up by 7.5 percent in Chicago, with many of the neighborhoods most impacted by the rising crime rates being the ones that have long been dealing with violence.

“In the seven most-violent police districts in the city, the rate was 25 times higher than the rest of the city — nearly 100 murders per 100,000 residents, a recent Chicago Sun-Time report detailed. “That’s the largest such gap between the safest and least-safe areas in the 60 years of data tracked by the Crime Lab.”

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Harrisburg) is among the Republican lawmakers taking action, filing House Resolution 598, which seeks to repeal SAFE-T.

“We’re now a year out from the passage of the excessively flawed SAFE-T Act and crime is up, our friends and neighbors are less safe and our law enforcement officers’ job is harder than it has ever been,” Windhorst said at a Jan. 20 news conference. “Ending cash bail for violent offenders, allowing detained subjects to make unmonitored phone calls, prohibiting arrest for certain criminal offenses and allowing unlimited anonymous complaints against police officers is the wrong path for criminal justice and public safety.”

The bill’s passage has been followed by a record number of officers resigning, with more than half of the state’s 102 counties now having a vacancy in the sheriff's office.

Windhorst is urging Democratic lawmakers to join in on his repeal effort.

“I welcome any House Democrat who voted for the original law and now recognizes the error they made to join us,” he said. “Let's make Illinois a safer place to live, work and raise a family once again. Sign on as a sponsor to the repeal the SAFE-T Act.”