Peoria Standard

If Republican candidate Desi Anderson is elected to the Illinois State Senate District 46 seat, her first order of business would be to repeal the controversial Safe-T Act, she said in a statement.

"Any supporter of this dangerous and destructive bill, such as my opponent Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), has proved they have no support for our police officers across the state," Anderson said. " This bill is another example of a  radical push by the Democrats to defund the police and release violent criminals back into our communities to do more harm."

She said the bill would eliminate cash bail, making Illinois the first state to do so.

"It will allow repeat offenders to roam free while simultaneously motivating police officers to move out of Illinois to find work somewhere else," Anderson said. "I stand with the residents of the 46th District that want to support our police officers and keep our community safe, unlike Senator Koehler who wants the exact opposite.”

According to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority website, the SAFE-T Act would enact extensive reform impacting many areas of the criminal justice system, including pre-arrest diversion, policing, pretrial, sentencing and corrections.    

The most contested aspect of the SAFE-T Act is the elimination of cash bail in Illinois. The bill noted it would be “presumed that a defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance” and may be detained thereafter if they violate certain conditions listed in 725 ILCS 5/110-2.

During a July 4 speech in Naperville, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said there are 640 perpetrators in Will County Jail. On Jan. 1, 2023, all bonds will be extinguished and eligible for release when the SAFE-T Act goes into effect. Sixty of those 640 are charged with murder, and many others are violent offenders.    

“If that bill [the SAFE-T Act] goes into effect…police officers’ hands will be tied," Glasgow said. "What you see in Chicago, we’ll have here (Naperville). I won’t be able to hold anybody in jail longer than 90 days if they demand trial, and after at the 90th day, they get out, no matter what crime they committed, and then, if they don’t show up for court, I can’t get a warrant…they’re not going to come back to court…It’s going to be literally the end of  days.”

State Sen. John Curran (R- Downers Grove) addressed some of the issues with having to find “continued detention” necessary following the initial detention hearing.

"The prosecutor has to identify, and the judge has to find that you pose a risk to a particular individual to continue to detain that person, as opposed to only having to prove a risk to the general public," Curran said.               

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has defended the SAFE-T Act, saying the bill would protect criminals without the financial resources that "drug dealers" have and keep them from sitting in jail for days, The Center Square reported.