The special speakers from Chicago and the suburbs couldn’t be there because of the snow, but the Back the Badge rally still happened at Jamie’s Outpost in Utica Sunday. The snow didn’t keep Police Chief Paul Cates from coming all the way from Abingdon west of Peoria. Cates says some communities won’t be able to support all the changes a police reform bill that passed the General Assembly requires.
Cates was there to drive in a parade through Utica and nearby communities after the rally. So was Gary Kemp of Oswego.
Vic Nistor of Ottawa thinks the wave of police reform crossing the country will lead to things un-American, such as foreign police filling in across America.
The rally was organized by Jaye Debates. He says he plans to organize 30 such rallies across Illinois through the end of June.