"I thought that was already was a crime, that violence against anyone was a crime," said Illinois State Rep. Martin McLaughlin. | repmclaughlin.com
"I thought that was already was a crime, that violence against anyone was a crime," said Illinois State Rep. Martin McLaughlin. | repmclaughlin.com
Not all Illinois lawmakers agree with state Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines)'s sponsored bill to make violence against police officers a hate crime.
"I thought that was already was a crime, that violence against anyone was a crime," Illinois Rep. Martin McLaughlin told the Lake County Gazette. "To me, any violent act against any individual, regardless of race, color creed or profession should be fully prosecuted. To call it a hate crime seems more of a political statement then one that is going bring heightened attention to the crime. If it assists prosecutors in putting those away that would offend, I might support it, but I'm not one that is a huge proponent of these micro-designations. At end of day, all crimes need to be prosecuting to the utmost with jail sentences not cut short. All this legislation seems to stem from prosecutors not doing their job."
The ACLU has come out against the bill and has said that it won't solve the problem they are trying to address, as according to them, increasing penalties for a crime doesn't reduce that crime.
McLaughlin addressed this.
"I haven't seen any of the data but find it incredibly hard to believe," McLaughlin told the Lake County Gazette. "The problem that’s increasing the perpetration of crimes is based on a lack of prosecution and upholding the law. There’s a reason murders, thefts and other crimes are up. With less incarceration, less prosecution, we get more crime."
McLaughlin also discussed other ways he believed officers could be kept safe in the field.
"The idea that qualified immunity should be taken off table should be a non-starter," Representative McLaughlin told the Lake County Gazette. "Removing or diminishing that, I think is a huge problem for officers across the state. If you want to remove qualified immunity, remove legislative immunity and watch how fast the lawmakers that are pushing that allow it to just go away. Officers are already putting their safety on the line, and now we want them to put their financial futures on the line with proposals like this."
According to FBI statistics, more than 60,000 law enforcement officers were injured while on duty last year.
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