McHenry Times

While acknowledging criminal justice reform is needed, veteran state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) argues defunding police departments is not the answer.

“If they’re talking about completely doing away with police departments, I’m totally opposed to that,” Ugaste told the Kane County Reporter. “If we need to reallocate funds to other places because that would be wiser that’s one thing, but we need police to provide us with protection. I don’t believe you throw everything out because of one or two issues. To defund would result in chaos.”

The Democrats' movement to dissolve police departments across the country appears to be growing by the day after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, which sparked protests and violence across the country. Minneapolis City Council members were among the first to broach the possibility of permanently doing away with their city's Police Department, and the idea quickly gained the support of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and more recently the leaders of the Chicago Public Schools.

Over the last few days, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has spoken out on the issue, saying what he thinks frustrated residents really want is real change.

“They want fundamental change in the way that police operate,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “You have to think about, what are the methods by which people can be disciplined if they’re not going to get disciplined by their own police departments, if the investigations are taking place by a police department that may not want to hold some of their officers accountable for the kind of behavior that I think we would all find reprehensible.”

On some levels, Ugaste agrees. He just doesn’t want to see leaders like Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot go too far too fast.    

“I believe some reforms may be needed, but it has to be looked at on department by department basis,” he said. “Chicago has had some issues, so if Mayor Lightfoot wants to look at things she has to decide what would be the best route to take. In end, I believe we need to have a well-funded, well-trained police department.”