McHenry Times

Veteran state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles) has received the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and its 33,000 members in his re-election campaign. 

In accepting the nod, Ugaste vowed to continue working with law enforcement to make the state as safe and successful as it can be.

“Despite the focus of the media on the divisions in American society right now, police officers need more support from their government leaders not less,” said Ugaste, who is running against Democrat Martha Paschke in the 65th District. “I will continue to work with and on behalf of law enforcement in my capacity as a state lawmaker to make sure our citizens stay safe and our police officers stay safe.”

While acknowledging that reforms are critically needed, Ugaste has long argued against the defund the police position advanced by others.

“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 defund movement picked up steam in the days after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis over the Memorial Day weekend. The incident sparked protests and demonstrations across the country, moving the Minneapolis City Council to entertain the idea of dissolving its city police department.

Not long after that, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker weighed in, surmising what he thinks frustrated residents really want is real change.

“They want fundamental change in the way that police operate,” Ugaste 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.”