SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • The Illinois
House today passed a bill to put the police departments of four troubled Metro
East communities under one oversight entity. It now moves to the Senate.
The “Metro East Police District Commission” would
encompass the police departments in East St. Louis, Washington Park, Alorton
and Brooklyn. The commission would help secure new resources and press for new
standards. The individual departments would still operate independently.
The commission would be funded by a mandatory $100 fine
to be levied against defendants found guilty in St. Clair County.
The House voted 64-54 to pass the bill (SB549),
with detractors questioning the propriety of a system that fines criminals more
in one Illinois county than in the rest. The Senate, which unanimously passed a
different version of the same proposal earlier this year, could consider it
Thursday.