LaSalle Alderman Bob Thompson reminded the city council that the Illinois Safe-T Act is going into effect starting January 1st of 2023. And while he says there are some things he agrees with in the act, there are a lot of things he disagrees with. The biggest issue he said was how officers can not engage a person if they are doing something non-violent like looking in another person’s or using the bathroom on that property. He says all police can do is write a ticket and walk away.
He also says although all police officers will be wearing cameras, the city will have to pay to get them. He says some cities have passed resolutions saying they are against it but it’s kind of waste of time. It’s going to take a groups like the Illinois
Association of Chiefs of Police to make changes. He hopes that changes will be made to make it less palpable, but he doesn’t expect it.