The Illinois Legislature passed a Police Reform Bill (HB 3653) through their lame duck session. This legislation was spear-headed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. It passed the General Assembly 60-50, and the State Senate 32-23. The bill was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on February 22nd, 2021.
Does include:
Effective date July 1st, 2021:
- Statewide use of force policy.
- No driver’s license suspensions from failure to pay fines.
- Requires the maintenance of police misconduct records and requires the use of special prosecutors in officer-involved deaths.
- Requires departments to create a policy for receiving non-notarized complaints.
- Greater reporting to IL Attorney General and Federal government on deaths & use of force.
- Complete ban on chokeholds.
- Requires statewide standards and services for officers to receive regular mental health screenings and assistance, while ensuring that counseling and screenings remain confidential.
- Imposes upon police a duty to intervene in the excessive use of force by another officer and to render aid when necessary.
- Enhances whistleblower protections.
- Victims qualify for restitution regardless of criminal history.
- Expands police training on use of force and crisis intervention, as well as first aid training.
- Ban on military equipment:
- bayonets
- grenade launchers
- armored vehicles
- weaponized aircraft, vessels, or vehicles
- firearms & ammunition of .50-caliber or higher
- Changes parameters for no-knock warrants:
- requires safety plan for children & bystanders
- all officers must wear body cams while serving warrant
- must verify the correct address
- Adds new detainee rights when in police custody including:
- the right to make three free phone calls within three hours of arrival at the police station and before questioning occurs
- the ability to retrieve phone numbers contained in their cell phone’s contact list prior to the phone being placed in inventory
- requires conspicuous notice of these rights in police stations and booking rooms
- requires that the telephone number to the public defender or appointed attorney’s office must also be displayed.
- Makes it a class 3 felony for an officer to:
- lie about their conduct
- withhold information or lie about another officer’s conduct
- not follow Illinois body cam laws
- Prohibits people with less than four months on their sentence from being imprisoned and allows them to be diverted to electronic monitoring or another DOC facility or program.
- Increases services and programming for pregnant prisoners, and requires medical treatment of prisoners and detainees without unreasonable delay.
- Statewide data keeping of pretrial information
Effective date January 1st, 2022:
- Mandates certification of police officers through the Illinois Law Enforcement & Training Standards Board (ILETSB) & lowers threshold for decertification of officers.
- Police in municipalities with populations of 500,000 or more must wear body cams.
Effective date January 1st, 2023:
- Pretrial Fairness Act:
- abolition of money bail
- implementation of pretrial services
- police have greater discretion in who they incarcerate and who they give summons to.
- Police in municipalities with populations of 100,000 or more but under 500,000 must wear body cams.
- Requires underlying offense for resisting arrest charges.
Effective date January 1st, 2024:
- Police in municipalities with populations of 50,000 or more but under 100,000 must wear body cams.
Effective date January 1st, 2025:
- Ends prison gerrymandering, the practice under current law of counting prisoners toward a jurisdiction’s census count rather than their permanent address.
- Police in municipalities with populations under 50,000 must wear body cams.
Does not include:
- Removed from bill:
- abolish qualified immunity
- restrictions on police collective bargaining
- residency requirements
- various financial penalties for violations of the law or failure of agency to comply with law
- prevent the purchase of:
- camouflage uniforms
- fully automatic weapons
- silencers
- drones with military grade surveillance
- chemical incapacitates, including tear gas and other chemical irritants
- Police propaganda:
- abolition of felony murder
- eliminate charges for habitual offenders
- criminalize being a police officer
- prevent the use of force
For more on police reform see here. For more on the Pretrial Fairness Act, see here.
