Kankakee Times

Critics are taking the SAFE-T Act to task for what they deem are critical flaws in the bill’s provisions that will make communities less safe.

The SAFE-T Act, which goes into effect on Jan 1, 2023, authorizes vast reform affecting many sectors of the criminal justice system, including corrections, pre-arrest diversion, pretrial, policing and sentencing, according to the ICJIA website.

The most contentious portion of the SAFE-T Act is that it will eliminate cash bail in the state. The bill noted it will 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.

Phil Nagel, Republican Candidate for State Senate IL-40 provided his thoughts on the SAFE-T Act in a Facebook post, “Patrick Joyce is continuing Illinois Democrats’ radical push to defund the police and make our communities less safe. The SAFE-T Act is set to abolish cash bail - an important tool used by law enforcement to keep dangerous criminals off the streets before a trial can be held. The SAFE-T Act's provisions will allow rapists, domestic abusers, murderers and other violent criminals off easy in the name of social justice. I join residents of the 40th District to demand that Patrick Joyce denounce the SAFE-T Act and call for its repeal.”

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow held a speech on July 4 where he stated that when the act goes into effect 640 perpetrators in Will County Jail will be eligible for release. Of those eligible, 60 have a murder charge and a multitude of others have violent offenses.

“If that bill [the SAFE-T Act] goes into effect…police officers’ hands will be tied… 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,” said Glasgow.

Sen. John Curran (R-41) addressed some of the issues with having to find “continued detention” necessary following the initial detention hearing as he said, “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.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) has defended HB3653, the SAFE-T Act. One of the reasons he provided for his stance on the issue is the bill would protect criminals without the financial resources that "drug-dealers" have and keep them from having to sit in jail for days.