South West Illinois News

The Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, which went into effect July 1, 2021, and impacted a wide range of policing activities in the state, remains controversial and Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pamona) hopes to see the law repealed. 

In a Jan. 7 post on his web page, Jacobs noted that earlier this month Democrats proposed a measure that would clean up errors in the original bill, with those issues including misspellings and problems with effective dates. He said he voted against the measure. He claims the law has resulted in a record number of retirements among law enforcement personnel, and many others have left to work in other states. 

“We need to repeal the SAFE-T Act in its entirety, not nibble around the  edges,” he said in the blog. “The overall idea is bad and the overall bill was bad. We must  get back to being a pro-police, pro-law enforcement, public-safety state. Criminals need to know Illinois is serious about punishing perpetrators of violent crime. We can and must do better for the people  of Illinois in the coming session.”

In the blog, Jacobs also noted that he intends to co-sponsor House Resolution 0598, which he said calls for a complete repeal of criminal justice reforms passed by Democrats. 

According to Injustice Watch, the new law changed a rule that allowed prosecutors to charge suspects with murder when their accomplices were killed by a third party in the commission of a forcible felony, and it set up a process to deal with abusive police officers. The website noted it also made body cameras mandatory for all police officers in the state and set limits on the use of deadly force.  

A key feature of the act, according to Injustice Watch, is the Pretrial Fairness Act, which would lead to the end of the money bond system by 2023 and place restrictions on which suspects can be held while waiting for a trial.