Metro East police board measure advances
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Law enforcement has so
completely broken down in parts of the Metro East that it’s no longer just a
criminal justice issue for the people who live there, St. Clair County State’s
Attorney Brendan Kelly told an Illinois Senate committee Wednesday: “It’s a
social justice issue.”
The Senate Executive Committee responded by
unanimously approving a measure that would take the rare step of putting the
police agencies of four local communities under a state oversight board.
The bill, which now moves to the full Senate,
would put the police departments in East St. Louis, Washington Park, Alorton
and Brooklyn under a “Metro East Police District Commission.” The commission
would help secure new resources and press for new standards. The individual
departments would still operate independently.
The legislation comes in response to stories
of seemingly chronic law enforcement corruption and failure in the East St.
Louis area. They include the arrests of Michael Baxton, the former police chief
of both Alorton and East St. Louis, for theft, and former Alorton Mayor Randy
McCallum Sr., who has pleaded guilty of using his Police Department to steal
and distribute cocaine.
In his committee testimony, Kelly noted that
18 felony arrests against law enforcement officials have taken place in the
region in the past year. But he focused his comments more heavily on law
enforcement failures in the region, failures that he said call for “a unique
solution to a unique problem.”
“The homicide rate in these communities is 20
times the national average,” Kelly told the committee. “Cases have gone
unprosecuted, criminals have gone unpunished. ... People are being deprived of
justice.”
There was no discussion from committee
members before the vote to send the bill to the Senate floor. The Senate could
hear the bill as early as today.
The Fraternal Order of Police is opposing the
bill as it is written, citing concerns that the new oversight entity might
affect labor rights of officers. Both sides say additional amendments to the
bill are being discussed that could address those concerns.
If the bill passes the Senate, it would have
to go back through the House and pass there before going to Gov. Pat Quinn.
The bill is HB1404.
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