Lake County Gazette

A Republican state senator believes the Criminal Justice Reform bill backed by Democrats in the Statehouse makes a troubling situation more perplexing. 

"This [is] all wrong for Illinois, and I think [it] only stands to make our communities more dangerous," Craig Wilcox (R-Crystal Lake) told the Lake County Gazette. "It ties the hands of our law enforcement officers too much and will only make it harder to recruit people willing to do the job."

Wilcox joins a growing number of Republican leaders in expressing outrage about the legislation, which among other aspects, seeks to enact changes that include outlawing cash bails and chokeholds as well as prohibiting pre-trial detention.

With the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus as one of its strongest supporters, the bill would also expand police reform about using force and crisis training. 

The proposed reforms have been a work in progress since the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last summer. 

"You've got plenty of people talking about how this bill came about because of all the recent highly-publicized interactions between a few police officers and individuals," Wilcox said. "The proposal generalizes all law enforcement. I don't think that's fair to them, and I oppose the measure as it's written, and I'm still hoping this doesn't officially become law." 

Finally, it also included mandating officers to use body cameras by 2025 and special prosecutors in police-involved killings.

Wilcox had issues with such a critical matter being addressed during the lame-duck session of the Legislature.

"There's no way this should have been rammed through the way it was," he said. "On such a critical issue that stands to impact so many, we need to have more voices."