Rock Island Today

Just on principle alone, state Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) could never see himself supporting the Criminal Justice Reform bill pushed by democrats.

“Something this big and complex should take at least a session to go through,” Anderson told the Rock Island Today. “All the parties, law enforcement, local government and the state’s attorneys, should have a chance to come to the table and have a say on this.”

Instead, Anderson rages at the way democrats worked in concert to push the bill that seeks to enact such changes as prohibiting pre-trial detention, impeding law enforcement investigations and removing all due process protections for officers forward during the lame duck session.  

Anderson said he’s never really seen anything else like it during his years of being in Springfield.

“You had five members set to vote on this that were on their way out the door in a matter of hours,” he said. “This is the epitome of bad government.”

Anderson said he now worries what could come next.

“I fear kit’s going to hurt law enforcement, communities and local governments,” he said. “Basically, it amounts to a tax increase because of all the unfunded mandates that are such a big part of this.  Small communities all over the state will be forced to make cuts to their already struggling police departments or raise property taxes just to be able to pay for all the spending. One person from a small town told me just to pay for the body cameras for a town of about 30,000 people will cost at least $500,000.”

Under different circumstances, Anderson said parts of the bill are things he and other republicans may have been able to get behind.

“Not everything in it is bad,” he said. “Some of the things are even things republicans have brought up before, but the process here is just really bad.”