South Cook News

Keith Pekau, Mayor of Orland Park and Republican nominee in Illinois' 6th Congressional District, recently pointed to Casten's support of an anti-law enforcement bill in Congress and highlighted Chicago's violent crime problem.

According to ABC Chicago, at least 51 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, including 10 people who were killed and 9 juveniles. One person who was killed was 16-year-old three-sport athlete Rishawn Hendricks, who was shot in the North Lawndale neighborhood. A student at North Lawndale College Prep's Collins Campus said, "It does make a lot of people depressed and makes a lot of people sad because we do lose a lot of students over the years and it makes a lot of people not want to come to school anymore." A 13-year-old girl was shot during the same incident, which took place around 8:20 pm on Saturday, but was reportedly in good condition. Hendricks is one of at least 33 juveniles that have been shot and killed in Chicago this year.

There have been 564 murders, 1,676 criminal sexual assaults, 7,014 robberies, 4,899 aggravated batteries, 16,130 thefts, 14,899 motor vehicle thefts, and 2,376 shooting incidents reported in the city of Chicago so far this year as of Oct. 23, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

Sean Casten's website states that he was a co-sponsor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which aimed to place restrictions on law enforcement officers by getting rid of qualified immunity, eliminating no-knock warrants, prohibiting chokeholds, and ending "racial and religious profiling."

The bill passed the House in March by a vote of 220 to 212, according to the Congressional record. The bill has not been put to a vote in the Senate.

"Chicago weekend shootings have left 43 people shot, including nine juveniles, the police department said. 10 people have been killed. Where is your leadership?" Pekau wrote in an Oct. 26 Facebook post. "In Congress, Sean Casten co-sponsored anti-police legislation that would make us all less safe. Crime has risen sharply in metro- and mid-metro areas across Illinois. As mayor, I’ve supported law enforcement and worked with local police and federal agencies to keep Orland Park safe. Crime rates in our village have dropped to their lowest levels in 27 years. On November 8 the choice is yours: Less safety or less crime?"

Pekau has been endorsed by members of the law enforcement community including DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick and former Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCathy, who is also a retired Secret Service Agent. McCarthy said, "Keith Pekau shares my passion for public safety, and he’s proven his commitment to keeping Orland Park families safe by working proactively with our police department to reduce crime to its lowest level in 27 years. He has my full support in his run for Congress.”