Editor鈥檚 note: This story was originally published by the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
The Monday is groundbreaking in its scope. It ends cash bail, expands detainee rights and requires body cameras on all police officers.
But the governor鈥檚 signature is also just the beginning of a transition that will take years, and there鈥檚 no guarantee that all of the changes promised in the massive bill will become reality as they were written.
July 1 is the earliest some measures will go into effect, including , the ability for people to file anonymous complaints about officers and expanded training requirements.
Cash bail won鈥檛 be fully abolished until 2023, to be replaced by a pretrial release system that determines a detainee鈥檚 freedom based on the alleged crime, risk of flight and possible danger to the community. Smaller police departments will have until 2025 to get body cameras for all their officers.
In the meantime, police, defense attorneys, judges, prosecutors and an array of special interest groups are parsing out鈥檚 more than 700 pages. Where its opponents see costly, hasty reform, others see opportunity.
The will be pushing to implement as much as possible as quickly as possible. States attorneys, police groups and Republican lawmakers promised to challenge the law, possibly watering it down. Their arguments are likely to end up in the courts.
Stakeholders say they need all the time they can get to work with lawmakers to make changes 鈥� and figure out how to pay for them.
鈥淲e hope that if there are some points of questions throughout the bill, that they meet with the people who are in law enforcement and talk through it instead of turning their backs on us and saying, 鈥楧eal with it,鈥欌�� said Madison County Sheriff John Lakin.
Planning for criminal justice reform
Even after hours of testimony, debate and revision prior to its passage, there is disagreement about what the law actually says.
Madison County State鈥檚 Attorney Tom Haine said the law contradicts itself in places. The portion about cash bail, for instance, says suspects must pose a threat to a specific person to be detained. Another section says says suspects can be held if they pose a threat to the community, Haine said.
鈥淪o which is it?鈥� Haine asked.
The bill amended existing law to prevent to prevent escape unless it鈥檚 necessary to prevent death or injury to an officer or someone else. Under exactly which circumstances would an officer be allowed to use deadly force?
Cathy MacElroy, chief public defender for St. Clair County, said she鈥檚 not sure how those rules are going to play out in real situations and in the courts.
But she believes new use-of-force rules will lead to 鈥渂etter interactions between police and people being arrested.鈥� Like law enforcement, however, she worries about paying for the required changes. Opponents criticized the bill for not including enough financial support.
鈥淭he changes in the bill are fantastic, but I hope the state soon realizes that we need funding for these mandates,鈥� MacElroy said.
Starting July 1, detainees will be allowed to make three phone calls within three hours of their arrest, and the local public defender鈥檚 number will be provided. MacElroy expects a 鈥渟ubstantial increase on the volume of cases鈥� her office sees based on that provision alone.
鈥淚 know in Chicago, in Cook County, they have public defenders who basically their entire job is just answering calls at night,鈥� MacElroy said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how we鈥檒l manage that downstate where we鈥檙e not funded as well.鈥�
In Madison County, meantime, board members cut more than $550,000 from the sheriff鈥檚 budget as part of an overall cost reduction effort as local governments face .
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to start at the beginning and see where we鈥檙e at,鈥� Lakin said.
The changes will have an immediate impact on accountability in policing from the bottom up, said Thomas Trice, president of Triken Transformational Training, a Belleville-based company that offers police training and consulting.
The law requires an officer to intervene if they see another using unauthorized force, even if it鈥檚 their superior. They must report the incident within five days, and the intervening officer can鈥檛 be retaliated against.
鈥淚t needs to start early because what happens is that once you get an officer into an agency and they get integrated with bad habits, those bad habits,鈥� Trice said.
That goes all the way through the ranks, so if you鈥檙e not producing leaders at the very bottom of your organization, there can鈥檛 be an expectation to have leaders at the sergeants and lieutenant and captain level.鈥�
Rebuilding trust in police
While challenges and questions will last for years and months, St. Louis-based activist Tracy Stanton says community healing should be a priority for police departments. Stanton, a lead organizer with Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, seeks to help low-income people avoid 鈥渃ycles of poverty and crisis鈥� through The Bail Project.
鈥淥ur communities are hurting,鈥� Stanton said. 鈥淭he people in our communities are hurting. Majority of the time, crime comes from trauma, poverty, things of that nature, so what do we need as a community to support people holistically? Social service providers, a pretrial office that actually wants to ensure people come back to court, not just so they can be charged, but just because this is what the person needs.鈥�
Trice agrees the law is an opportunity for rebuilding trust.
鈥淟eadership needs to reimagine a new law enforcement and how it operates within the context of their communities,鈥� Trice said. 鈥淭hat whole reimagining concept is innovation, really, and moving into a 21st century of policing that can actually gain public trust and have that acceptance of power and that authority back because they know they鈥檙e going to be responsible with it.鈥�
As the reform shakes out, police will still be doing their jobs, the Madison County sheriff said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still going to answer the phone, respond to calls, patrol, do the things we鈥檙e doing right now,鈥� Lakin said. 鈥淚t may affect some of how that happens.鈥�
DeAsia Page and Kelsey Landis are reporters with the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
