Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Statement on GOP Efforts to Go Backwards on Public Safety:

State Rep. Sonya Harper, Joint Chair of The Illinois Black Caucus (ILBC), state Rep. Kam Buckner, House Chair of the ILBC, and state Senator Robert Peters, Senate Chair of the ILBC, released the following statement after today’s Republicans press conference on the SAFE-T Act:

“As usual with the Republican Party, any effort to make the justice system fairer for Black people is called ‘dangerous.’ With this law, we have worked directly with community organizations, legal rights advocates and law enforcement to make our justice system more effective and more just at the same time. That’s why the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement groups continue to work with us on this bill.”

“Many provisions of the SAFE-T Act have not even gone into effect yet, proving the Republican gambit is all for show. In fact, when fully implemented, experts say the SAFE-T Act will help improve public safety by supporting a more holistic approach for first-responders. Instead of coming up with solutions to address crime, Republicans are just trying the same racial scare tactics we see across the country. Today’s press conference is another instance of the Illinois GOP chasing relevancy after years of budget impasses and budget cuts. We trust the public won’t fall for this. We are improving public safety, supporting law enforcement and ending systemic injustice at the same time. We are not going backwards.”