SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A controversial police reform bill has passed the Illinois House, hours after it passed in the Illinois Senate.
The House approved the Criminal Justice Reform bill, HB 6353, Wednesday morning on a 60-50 vote, just before the end of the lame duck session.
Receiving approval from both chambers, HB 6353 is headed to Gov. J-B Pritzker’s desk for approval.
The bill would eliminate cash bail, require body cameras for all departments and prevent police misconduct records from being destroyed.
Republican State Senator Win Stoller, of Germantown Hills, who represents Illinois’s 37th District told WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show”, these reforms handcuff our law enforcement.
“It hurts their ability to keep us safe. And, it really shifts power to the criminal side of the equation,” Stoller said.
In a news release on Wednesday, Stoller said Democrats pushed HB 6353 through the General Assembly without giving lawmakers time to thoroughly read its nearly 800 pages.
Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell said by eliminating cash bail, people arrested will go to jail, but what happens next depends their individual risk factors as determined by police.
“They’ll use a risk asssessment, a pre-trial assessment, to determine if this individual should remain in custody or be released,” Asbell said.
If HB 6353 is signed into law, those who are incarcerated will either be in or out of jail, there will be no room for negotiation.
“There’s no going back and trying to get a bail reduction. Some will argue maybe this is a safer system, so those criminals that have financial resources cannot bail out,” Asbell said.
Asbell said there is a two-year window for getting the program going. He’s fought it for two years, and is concerned that it will end up hurting the population that law enforcement is trying to protect.
Stoller said HB 6353’s reforms remove incentive for those who need to go to trial to even show up in court.
“Not everybody is guilty, but we don’t know that until they go to trial. Some of these people are dangerous criminals,” Stoller said.
According to Stoller, in order for Gov. J-B Pritzker to veto HB 6353, the public must help put pressure on him to do so.
