Dysfunctional crime bill

A 700-page so called "police reform" bill was passed by the lame-duck Illinois legislature. There ended up being essentially less than an hour of debate. Key leaders and apparent authors of this bill were primarily Chicago and Cook County legislators. They seemed to have little to no interest in hearing other opinions. Their comments to the media confirm that.

It appears that several suburban and downstate legislators were able to inject some last-minute common sense into the process and remove or revise portions of the bill.

The bill contains a number of important topics that should be addressed. However, many of the details in the current bill as written are dysfunctional and outright punitive toward law enforcement. The legislature needs to get such important laws right and consider stakeholders across Illinois.

I urge the Governor to veto this bill and tell the legislature to come back this Spring with a product that can be a national model.

James Montanari

Batavia