Prairie State Wire

Jim Kaitschuk expected a bill on law enforcement reforms to be introduced during the Illinois 2021 special session. However, Kaitschuk, the executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, said the scope of the changes proposed in House Bill 163 took him by surprise.

In a message calling for support from the law enforcement community, he said the proposed law “radically changes law enforcement, victim services, criminal proceedings and the protections of every law enforcement officer in the state, regardless of employment as a peace officer, deputy, trooper, university police officer, corrections officer, court security officer or other law enforcement.”

The bill, including Senate Amendment 2, will strip law enforcement officers of virtually all their protections, including from civil liability, while removing their ability of officers to pursue collective bargaining agreements. In the end, officers would lose “constitutionally protected due process,” Kaitschuk wrote, and government entities with law enforcement agencies will see a dramatic increase in costs, including increased educational programs for officers with no funds designated to pay for the training.

Felony murder charges will be prohibited in many cases, and the use of no-knock warrants significantly reduced.

The Legislative Black Caucus heavily promoted the bill. It held more than 100 hours of meetings in recent months as part of a campaign to end what it terms “systemic racism in Illinois.” 

The measure was passed by both houses of the legislature and is now waiting on Gov. J.B. Pritzker's desk to be signed into law.

“Obviously the Black Caucus and members of the community had expressed concerns with issues that have occurred, I know across the country,” Kaitschuk told Prairie State Wire. “I didn’t expect this much. I expected something, but this was more than I was anticipating.”

The Black Caucus outlined “four pillars” it is focused on during the brief special session. These include criminal justice reform, violence reduction and police accountability; education and workforce development economic access; equity and opportunity; and health care and human services.

The bill calls for increased training on crisis situations and the use of force, including ending the use of chokeholds. Police misconduct records will be required and all law enforcement officers will be required to wear body cameras by 2025. It also mandates the use of special prosecutors in officer-involved deaths. Cash bail also would be ended.

“There’s no way to accomplish something like that in this amount of time and make it a workable bill,” Kaitschuk told Prairie State Wire. “Our solution has been and continues to be, we are always willing to sit down with legislators, members of the community to talk about if they have concerns with areas how we are doing our job or they want to share with us. We should work collaboratively.”

Kaitschuk said members of the law enforcement community talked with legislators, updated the media, worked to spread their message on social media and testified before legislative committees to make their views known.

His message to law enforcement officers was blunt in a statement previously published by Prairie State Wire.

“The fight over this bill is a fight to save law enforcement. If we lose this fight, it might as well be a crime to be a law enforcement officer in Illinois,” Kaitschuk wrote. “You need to contact your senator and representative to implore that they do not hand this state over to the felons while criminalizing our profession. ... We are all counting on you.”

The Law Enforcement Coalition, which includes the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge, Illinois FOP Labor Council and Illinois FOP Lodge 7 (Chicago), came out strongly against the bill.

“This bill was drafted without law enforcement input and because of that, the long-term unintended consequences of this legislation would be dire,” the coalition said in a statement. “We urge the Illinois General Assembly to avoid making a sudden, rash decision in the lame duck session and, instead, work carefully with all stakeholders to truly examine what needs to be done regarding law enforcement in Illinois.”

He said the bill isn’t a partisan matter as both Republicans and Democrats have differing views.

“I see opposition on both sides,” Kaitschuk said.