Welch on Police Reform: "Some Changes Have to Be Made"
House Speaker Chris Welch opened the door Monday to additional police reform following the police killing of Sony Massey in Springfield this month.
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In the wake of the fatal police killing of unarmed Springfield resident Sonya Massey by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy earlier this month, the Speaker of the Illinois House isn’t ruling out further legislation on police reform.
In a conversation on WMAY in Springfield Monday, Speaker Chris Welch said while the legislature has addressed police reform through passage of the SAFE-T Act in 2021, Welch says he thinks the latest high profile police brutality incident warrants more discussion by the legislature.
“We’re going to continue to ask folks to come to the table and prevent innocent people from getting murdered. We have to work together to improve our criminal justice system,” Welch said. “This isn’t a Democratic issue, this isn’t a Republican issue. We should all look at body cam footage like [the Massey case] and just be horrified and recognize that some changes have to be made.”
Some Democrats The Illinoize spoke with Monday believe options that could be on the table include increased training or training reforms and some believe the repeal of qualified immunity, a protection for police actions unless there was a prior ruling where the actions of a police officer have been ruled illegal.
Numerous Democrats believe the legislature either can’t or won’t go so far as to end qualified immunity.
Welch did not discuss details Monday or lay out a timeline for potential reforms.