(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 R.
WBGZ Radio 2/18/2021 |
By Kevin Bessler - Illinois Radio Network
Illinois lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on the effect justice reforms have on public safety.
The Senate Joint Public Safety and Criminal Law Committee’s hearing dealt with sentencing laws, reducing the Illinois prison population, and the spike in carjackings in Chicago, Peoria and other downstate communities.
Kathy Saltmarsh, executive director of the Sentencing Policy Advisory Council, or SPAC, said carjackings are a result of the pandemic. She said tough sentencing for those responsible is the wrong approach.
“Because you have implemented a policy that generates more recidivism,” Saltmarsh said. “It is entirely probable that once COVID subsides and things get back to normal, that carjackings will go down.”
(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on the effect justice reforms have on public safety.
The Senate Joint Public Safety and Criminal Law Committee’s hearing dealt with sentencing laws, reducing the Illinois prison population, and the spike in carjackings in Chicago, Peoria and other downstate communities.
Kathy Saltmarsh, executive director of the Sentencing Policy Advisory Council, or SPAC, said carjackings are a result of the pandemic. She said tough sentencing for those responsible is the wrong approach.
“Because you have implemented a policy that generates more recidivism,” Saltmarsh said. “It is entirely probable that once COVID subsides and things get back to normal, that carjackings will go down.”
Decades of tough-on-crime policies have begun to give way in recent years to conversations about alternatives to incarceration.
State lawmakers on Tuesday heard from advocates who say interventions that get at the roots of crime, like mental health and poverty, can be more effective at reducing crime.
Greg Jackson of the Community Justice Action Fund, which provides support to communities of color affected by gun violence, told members of the Senate’s Public Safety Committee the threat of incarceration does not deter many of the people he works with, but that a lack of opportunities for personal growth is what leads to recidivism.