Illinois Crime Reduction Task Force meets for the first time

[October 05, 2022]  By Andrew Hensel | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Crime Reduction Task Force met for the first time virtually on Tuesday to address crime throughout the state.

State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, co-chairs the task force with state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria. The task force includes Illinois police officials and Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority members.

The group is tasked with submitting a detailed report on findings, recommendations, and needed resources to the governor and General Assembly before March 1, 2023.

Timothy Lavery of ICJIA shared some crime statistics to show where Illinois is currently compared to previous years.

"If we look at the trends in both Cook County and Illinois, we see a spiking up since 2016, then back down then back up again in 2020," Lavery said. "This is according to the ISP data. Chicago is matching that trend."

Violent crime in Chicago spiked in 2016, declined in 2019, then rose again in 2020 and even further in 2021.

According to Safewise.com, Illinois saw higher violent crime rates at 4.3 incidents per 1,000, compared to 4.0 nationwide. This is the second consecutive year violent crime rates have risen, and in the third year, the state reported a higher rate than the U.S. overall.

Kathy Saltmarsh of the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council said they need to find out what is causing these issues.

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst.
Courtesy of State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi

"The issue is we do not have good answers on the 'why' questions," Saltmarsh said. "During this committee meeting, the trends show big patterns over time."

Luis Centeno, who owns and operates a boxing gym that deals with troubled youths, said one issue is that childrendo not have access to enough resources.

"CeaseFire and interrupters gave these kids false promises," Centeno said. "To them, it does not matter. They have nothing to lose, so why should they stop?"

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhust, took issue with the two Democratic chairs handling of topics during the meeting.

"Well, it seems like you are already pre-selecting important voices through the particular ideological lens you are imposing on the topics," Mazzochi said. "If this is going to be data-driven, then we need to make sure we have a diversity of opinions going forward."

Mazzochi tried to speak during the meeting but was stifled. She worries this could be a problem going forward with the task force.

"I get told we need to save time, but we had scheduled meeting time left, and the response from the senator was 'I don't care,' when I said we need to have additional viewpoints, I think is troubling," Mazzochi said.