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Metro East police board measure advances


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.


Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.