Joined by more than a dozen Black lawmakers at Chicago State University on the city’s south side, Governor JB Pritzker has signed controversial police reform legislation into law.

The 700-plus page bill, passed in the waning hours of the lame duck session in January, abolishes cash bail, establishes licensure for police officers, sets statewide standards on use of force, and requires body cameras on all officers, among numerous other provisions.

Critics say the bill was pushed through in the dead of night, the Senate passed it around 4am January 13th, and will put more criminals on the street because they won’t be held on bond.

“This bill protects police officers,” Pritzker said Monday. “This bill codifies things that were not codified before to protect them. I am actually very confident that this is going to make policing safer and it is going to make the public safer.”

Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago), one of the lead supporters of the bill, said by ending cash bail, it gives judges more discretion as to keeping a potentially violent criminal in jail pending trial.

“What we’ve done is strengthen judicial discretion when it comes to determining whether someone is a threat to a person or community,” Peters said. “We’ve focused this explicitly and narrowed it, so money does not play a factor. Money does not determine whether someone is a threat. We focus this specifically on whether someone is a threat to a person or community.”

Supporters say cash bond often forces poor people to spend extended time in jail because they can’t afford a bond of just a few hundred dollars.

While critics argue the bill was rushed, not having been introduced until after the new year then pushed through in the final hours before the last General Assembly expired, Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), the lead sponsor of the bill, said negotiations and public hearings were going on for months.

“There’s a narrative this process was rushed. This process was not rushed,” Sims said. “The first hearing [was] September 1st, the first iteration of this bill was introduced January 5th. That’s 126 days. So this bill was absolutely not rushed.”

A coalition of police groups, including the Illinois Sheriff’s Association, Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, and multiple Fraternal Order of Police lodges, released a statement following the signing critical of the Governor’s support of the new law.

“Governor Pritzker chose to listen to a few strident political voices rather than the 120,000 petition signing citizens who plainly saw the bill for what it is,” the statement read. “This new law is a blatant move to punish an entire, honorable profession that will end up hurting law-abiding citizens the most. Because we are sworn to protect and serve the public, we sincerely hope that we will not be proven right about this new law, that it won't cause police officers to leave the profession in droves and handcuff those who remain so they can't stop crimes against people and property.”

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, a former prosecutor and vocal critic of the legislation, called the bill signing an “insult” to law enforcement.

“It’s clear that Governor Pritzker does not understand this bill and what it means to our criminal justice system. Illinois and its citizens will not be safer because of this bill,” Durkin said in a statement. “This past year, Chicago has been traumatized with epic acts of violence through murders and car-jackings with no apparent end in sight. At a crucial time when we should coalesce around the good men and women of law enforcement, Governor Pritzker has turned his back on them with his signature on House Bill 3653.”

Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) said there were good provisions in the bill, but he had multiple oppositions.

“There are some positives in this legislation, specifically the changes that make it easier to reprimand and de-certify bad actors in law enforcement who have broken the public’s trust,” Curran, a former prosecutor, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the negatives, which could have been further negotiated had the sponsors been open to bipartisan support, will undoubtedly make our communities less safe.”

Republicans pointed to what they call multiple contradictions and language issues in the bill. Sims alluded to the possibility that amendments could be made to the bill, known in Springfield vernacular as “clean up” legislation.

We’re told law enforcement groups are “evaluating” a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the legislation.

Patrick Pfingsten

@pfingsten1 patrick@theillinoize.com