McHenry Times

Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Hampshire) recently called on lawmakers to put a halt on the SAFE-T Act.

The Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act eliminates cash bail by 2023, allows certain people accused of felonies to not have to be detained before trial, and imposes restrictions on Illinois police officers. Law enforcement groups and police unions stated that the SAFE-T Act poses a threat to pubic safety. 

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx supported the legislation, according to Injustice Watch. Additionally, Chicago City Wire reports that Foxx has dropped all charges against 30% of felony defendants.

“Democrats’ SAFE-T Act has only jeopardized public safety in Illinois," Ugaste said in a video posted on Facebook. "We need to repeal this measure and give law enforcement the support and resources they need to protect and serve.”

Injustice Watch reports that activists who helped eliminate the cash bail for the state have been experiencing negative press for some time after a single case can stronghold the media narrative of "dangerous reforms."

“That is how we built mass incarceration in this country, by taking unfortunate individual circumstances that are not representative of the whole and then building policy around worst case scenarios,” Sharlyn Grace, former executive director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund and one of the co-authors of the Pretrial Fairness Act told the Injustice Watch.

There were 797 homicides in Chicago in 2021, which was more than New York or Los Angeles and the most the city has seen since 1996. The city saw 3,561 shooting incidents in 2021, which was 1,415 more than in 2019, according to ABC.

Fox32 Chicago reports that during the first weekend of 2022, six people in Chicago were killed by gunfire and another 25 were wounded. Among the dead is a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the chest while sitting in an Englewood home. Other murder victims include a 22-year-old man who was found shot in the back in an alley, a woman who was found shot in the head in an alley, and a 40-year-old man who was shot in the face.