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2021/03/15 - Mayor's Column: Concerns Over House Bill 3653

“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach­­­

O’Fallon is fortunate to have a well-trained Police Department that works dillegently to keep our City a safe place to live and work.  You can see in other communities what happens when you do not have a well-trained and professional Police Department. On February 22, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3653, also known as the Criminal Justice and Police Reforms Bill into law. Parts of the Bill will start to go into effect on July 1, 2021 and through July 2023.

Because this new law has some major parts to it that can be far reaching to all Illinois communities including O’Fallon, I want you to be aware of some of these changes and the effect they can have.  This new law has brought an end to cash bail in Illinois. It also requires significant changes to police training policies, body cameras, new guidelines for “decertification” of police officers, and an end to suspended licenses for failure to pay, among several other changes.

I echo the concerns of the Illionis Association of Chiefs of Police. There is language in the bill that will endanger our communities and make residents in towns and cities of every size feel less safe. For example, with this new law:

  • If you call the police because an unwanted person is peeking in your windows or standing in your yard or place of business and you don’t want them there for a legitimate reason, you can call the police, but the police will not be able to physically remove that person. All they can do is issue a citation (like a traffic ticket). Then, if the unwanted person still doesn’t leave and is not being threatening, the police will have no authority to arrest them or get them to “move along.” This applies to all Class B and Class C misdemeanors.
  • The amount of “force” an officer can use will be limited in ways that will cause danger to innocent people and victims of crimes. This will cause citizens to wonder why the police have stopped pursuing obviously violent people.
  • Consider this scenario: The police respond to an armed offender that just committed a crime with a gun running towards a schoolyard with children.  Under the previous law, they would be authorized to use deadly force to stop him.  Under the new definition of “imminent” however, they cannot stop the subject and would have to wait for him to actually get to the schoolyard and threaten the children and potentially shoot one before they could use deadly force to stop the subject.
  • Use of force language also restricts force while making an arrest if an officer reasonably believes the person cannot be apprehended at a later date. Almost anyone can be arrested at a later date.
  • Body camera language that (a) makes it a Class 3 felony for an officer not to comply with laws and policies requiring the use of body-worn cameras, and (b) that does not allow an officer to review their own body cam video before writing a report. This is the example of “Got ya” policies. Body cameras are valuable assets to help officers recall the specifics of an interaction and improve training. Not allowing officers to review their own body camera footage would be like restricting a news anchor from watching their own interview before airing it on the local news.

The new law will have a great impact on the ability to recruit and retain great police officers. The bill legalizes resistance to arrest in many cases and allows anonymous complaints to end a police officer’s career. Many long-time police officers, and many future police officers are reconsidering their career plans. This could result in less qualified, well-trained police officers protecting us. We have already seen the largest amount of Illinois Police Officers in history sign up for positions with the Missouri Highway Patrol.

If you also have concerns about this new law, I encourage you to reach out to your local State elected officials. There should be a trailer bill that we hope, with enough input from citizens, will adjust some of the language in the original bill.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!