Rock Island Today

Sen. Neil Anderson said he supports appealing the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act as he claims it’ll impact many areas of the criminal justice system.

“I can tell you from a lot more experience than I wish I had that I’m tired of seeing victims in the back of an ambulance and having to treat them and seeing the fear that they have after — it’s whether it’s sexual assault, whether it’s child abuse or just random violence,” Anderson said at a press event. “It’s heartbreaking, and it's even more heartbreaking being that we have not had a seat at the table when it comes to a lot of these pieces of legislation.”

Injustice Watch reported the act becoming law was a historic success for community organizers and black state lawmakers behind it.

The 2021 Illinois SAFE-T Act was signed into law on Jan. 22, 2021. It focuses on the use of force, pretrial detention and complaints and misconduct.

It also deals with police decertification and requires officers to cite and release individuals who perpetrate certain low-level offenses. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority has been given a variety of responsibilities including serving on the Pretrial Practices Data Oversight Board convened by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.

As part of that board, it will be responsible for: Identifying existing pretrial data collection processes; defining, gathering and maintaining records of pretrial data; identifying resources necessary to collect and report data; developing a plan to implement data collection processes to collect data; and developing a strategy to collect data.

Democrats argued the act supports law enforcement.

“Law enforcement is an integral part of any long-term, comprehensive plan to tackle violence,” Rep. Dave Vella told The State Journal-Register.

Provisions related to the state records act will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. This will require law enforcement to release information about arrestees, including name, age, photograph, address and information related to the arrest to the news media. This is only one of the provisions that go into effect next year.

WANDTV reported Illinois Republicans blamed the act for the increased crime.

Anderson isn't alone in wanting the SAFE-T Act repealed. Rep. Patrick Windhorst announced his support for a bill that would repeal the SAFE-T Act in early March.