Last week, the offices of House Republican Conference Chair Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore), State Senator Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles), State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley), and State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) partnered with the Elgin Community College Center for Emergency Services in Burlington to host their annual First Responders Roundtable. More than sixty first responders from communities in Kane, McHenry, and DeKalb Counties participated in the discussion that featured remarks by Ron Two Bulls, Senior Director of Academic Programming and Public Safety Training at the Center for Emergency Services and Interim Elgin Community College President Dr. Peggy Heinrich.
“Our first responders go to work every day ready to put their lives on the line to protect our families,” said Keicher. “While they have done an incredible job dealing with the challenges and unintended consequences brought on by the so-called ‘SAFE-T’ Act over the past few years, it’s more important than ever that we listen to the issues they face and ensure they have the resources they need to do their jobs protecting our communities.”
The changes set in motion by the SAFE-T Act and the elimination of cash bail have continued to exacerbate staffing issues faced by many police and county sheriff departments, both in recruiting new officers and retaining officers nearing retirement. Retention of firefighters has also been a growing issue for many departments.
“It was my pleasure to help put this roundtable discussion together, and I was pleased to see such a great turnout,” said Sen. DeWitte. “Our local police and firefighters have done a tremendous job adapting to the changes and challenges they have had to face in recent years, but it was clear during our discussions that we need to make changes at the state level to help our first responders deal with the staffing issues they’re facing.”
The group also discussed the difficulties that many departments are facing to keep up with costly new mandates that have come down from the state. A core feature of this is cuts to some of the state grants many departments have relied on to comply with state mandates and meet other important operational needs.
“The far-too-lenient approach to addressing crime in the SAFE-T Act has put criminals and repeat offenders back on the street, burdening already pressured police forces in Illinois,” said Rep. Ugaste. “Law enforcement officers are trying to manage the requirements of the SAFE-T Act while their communities are being shortchanged for cost increases. I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak with police officers on this issue, as well as with firefighters on issues important to them and their departments.”
Other topics discussed during the roundtable included the impact and difficulty of determining DUIs with legal cannabis, how lax penalties in state law for fleeing and eluding have led to more dangerous high-speed incidents on roadways, and how there has been an uptick in criminals using stolen license plates on stolen vehicles to mask theft.
Officers and firefighters from Batavia, Burlington, Carpentersville, Cortland, Crystal Lake, DeKalb, East and West Dundee, Elburn, Elgin, Elgin Community College, Geneva, Huntley, Illinois State Fire Marshal, Illinois State Police, Maple Park, North Aurora, Pingree Grove, Rutland, Sleepy Hollow, South Elgin, St. Charles, Sugar Grove, Sycamore, Wayne, and from DeKalb, Kane, and McHenry Counties, and EMS from Tri-Com Central Dispatch were in attendance.