Full Text of HR0598 102nd General Assembly
HR0598 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On January 13, 2021, the Democrats in the | 3 | | Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 3653, which was | 4 | | the final blow to law enforcement after years of stripping | 5 | | away their powers and protections bill by bill; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, A 764-page attack on law enforcement was filed in | 7 | | the Senate at approximately 3 o'clock in the morning on the | 8 | | 13th and called for a vote a little over an hour later, the | 9 | | timing of which made it almost impossible to read and | 10 | | thoroughly vet the bill; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Less than two hours before the end of the 101st | 12 | | General Assembly, HB 3653 made its way to the House for a vote; | 13 | | no committee hearing was held on the 764-pages, and no | 14 | | opportunity for witness slips was allowed; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, HB 3653 was called to the floor, and multiple | 16 | | members of the Republican caucus wanted to speak on the bill, | 17 | | members who have actual experience in the law enforcement | 18 | | field as law enforcement officers or prosecutors; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Instead, the Democrats forced the bill to a vote | 20 | | after two Republican speakers and held the voting open as long | 21 | | as was necessary to get their members to vote yes on the bill, |
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| 1 | | which barely passed; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, HB 3653, which the sponsors called the SAFE-T | 3 | | Act, abolished cash bail, hinders law enforcement's ability to | 4 | | apprehend offenders, fails to protect victims, and emboldens | 5 | | criminals by removing consequences; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, This controversial bill that was rushed through | 7 | | the legislature in the wee hours of the morning was not | 8 | | intended to develop a better justice system but is part of a | 9 | | vindictive effort to criminalize and demoralize policing and | 10 | | to delegitimize and destabilize the State's current justice | 11 | | system; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The new law created a Task Force to study | 13 | | qualified immunity for police officers, created an anonymous | 14 | | complaint process to pressure officers, and made dangerous | 15 | | changes in the use of force by officers, putting both the | 16 | | public and law enforcement at risk; it changed the standards | 17 | | for felony murder to make it more difficult to charge some of | 18 | | our society's most dangerous perpetrators; this new law has | 19 | | created unprecedented challenges for law enforcement agencies, | 20 | | and it has endangered the public; it has made the job of | 21 | | protecting the public all the more difficult for police | 22 | | officers; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In a convoluted effort to disarm police officers, | 2 | | the new law even contained provisions that intend to prohibit | 3 | | law enforcement agencies from acquiring lifesaving armored | 4 | | vehicles and equipment that is often utilized to assist, | 5 | | rescue, and protect victims of violent riots, mass shootings, | 6 | | and acts of civil unrest and danger; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Seventeen county sheriffs alone have quit since | 8 | | the passage of HB 3653, and the Chicago Police Department is | 9 | | seeing officers retire in record numbers; officers are leaving | 10 | | the law enforcement professions all while Chicago ended 2021 | 11 | | with a record number of homicides, more homicides than any | 12 | | other city in the United States; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Statistics released by the Chicago Police | 14 | | Department showed that a rise in the number of shootings left | 15 | | more people dead than in any single year in a quarter century; | 16 | | and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Police departments all across the State are | 18 | | reporting record number of vacancies in their departments; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 2021, Illinois lost nine law enforcement | 20 | | officers in the line of duty, five died by gunfire alone; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Violence keeps increasing, and the Democrats keep |
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| 1 | | filing bills and pushing legislation that protects those | 2 | | offenders and causes more harm to law enforcement and victims | 3 | | of crime; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The actions by the Governor with the Democrats of | 5 | | the House and Senate have created a consequences-free | 6 | | environment in Illinois for criminals and organized street | 7 | | gangs; therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 9 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 10 | | we urge the Illinois General Assembly to value and protect | 11 | | crime victims and law enforcement, those on the streets | 12 | | protecting the community and public every day; and be it | 13 | | further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois General Assembly to | 15 | | repeal HB 3653/the SAFE-T Act in its entirety.
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