South Cook News

Reformist candidate in the 29th House District Jeff Coleman said the Safe-T Act is anything but safe. 

The measure, he said, was "so irresponsibly put together."

“I do understand that, especially in black communities, my community where I grew up, the scales of justice have not been equally balanced at all," Coleman told South Cook News. "And, you know, we've been getting beat up by the system, literally, and I understand the need for some type of reform. Also, I understand that the bail situation hasn't been fairly applied, but there are those instances where individuals or minor crimes can't afford a simple $400 or $500 bail and is still at the county jail for almost an extended period of time without even [a] good trial. So I do understand the need for it too." 

Coleman argued that there has something to be done about the nearing implementation of the act because "[It] is crazy. It's just not getting addressed. It is scaring the crap out of people. Republicans are being accused of fear-mongering, but shit, you should be scared – that's a normal reaction when people get assaulted with legislation that basically puts them in danger 24/7.”

“I do understand putting in place to put in place from reform to fix stuff, but to jump on, jump off of a rooftop with some irresponsible legislation, that's just ludicrous and very dangerous," he added. "It's just sickening, it's saddening. This has had nothing to do with politics, left or right. This is this basic common sense that everybody is affected by. It's just we just got to start holding individuals who make these decisions for us accountable and the only way we're going to do that is to start really evaluating who we put in office and stop being blind, blindly giving our devoted vote loyalty to a one-party system that obviously doesn't have the best interests of the people in mind at all.” 

Thousands of criminals who are now being held in state prisons while they await trial on serious charges will be released when the Safe-T Act takes effect on Jan.1. If the Safe-T Act is carried out as intended, those accused of the most horrific crimes, such as robbery, kidnapping, arson, second-degree murder, intimidation, aggravated battery, aggravated DUI, aggravated flight, drug-related homicide and threatening a public official, will be freed, Will County Gazette reported.

When the Safe-T Act goes into force, 400 prisoners, or roughly half the jail's population in Winnebago County, are predicted to be freed. In an opinion piece for the Rockford Register Star, J. Hanley, the state’s attorney for Winnebego County, discussed the subject. 

“Approximately 400 criminal defendants will be released back into our community because our Illinois legislators passed the “SAFE-T Act” back in 2020,’” Hanley wrote.

Sheriff Peter Sopczak of Johnson County stated that his jail will also be vacant. 

“Anyone sitting in jail right now with all these pending charges, they’re going to be let out,” Sopczak told Heartland News. “The gates are open and they’re going to be let out onto the streets.”

In Illinois, 100 of the 102 state's attorneys support repealing or changing the legislation. Far-left state's attorneys Eric Rinehart for Lake County and Kim Foxx for Cook County are the only two outliers, Madison-St. Clair Record reported.