HR0174 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0174 LRB102 17874 MST 24414 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States of America continues the historical exploitation of and violence against marginalized groups that has helped form the foundations of its prosperity; and

WHEREAS, The modern police state has emerged from the institutions of slave catchers and strike breakers, which were later repurposed for use in upholding Jim Crow laws and for the suppression of the civil rights movement; the State of Illinois has a history of racially-biased policing and brutality by law enforcement and corrections officers, and prior attempts at reform have been unsuccessful; and

WHEREAS, There has been a lack of correlation between increased police spending and feelings of safety or decreases in crime; and

WHEREAS, Most crimes are never reported, and those that are reported often go unresolved; and

WHEREAS, Many of the people in the jails and prisons of Illinois have not been convicted, are awaiting trial, are non-violent offenders, or are at a low risk of recidivism; and

WHEREAS, There are many other data-driven and evidence-based ways to promote peace within our communities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge every Illinois municipality and county to cut 10% of funding to law enforcement agencies that do not adopt and comply with an appropriately robust reform program; and be it further

RESOLVED, That an appropriately robust reform program would ensure law enforcement officers are held accountable for misconduct, policing agencies are held accountable for creating policies and priorities with public input that are transparent and evidence-based, and policing agencies' budgets are reviewed to ensure resources are used for holistic public safety and have transparency for police budgetary items; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge municipalities and counties to review municipal and county codes for the over-criminalization of minor offenses and the criminalization of poverty or other status; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the State of Illinois to do the following:

(1) Set a statutory minimum requirement for the use of lethal and less lethal force;

(2) Set minimum standards for the training, equipment, and deployment of tactical teams, with a requirement to report the relevant data on all deployments;

(3) Limit the use of and access to invasive surveillance technologies by police agencies or private companies contracted by police agencies, with oversight on how data is collected and handled;

(4) Limit the use of traffic and pedestrian stops through the limiting of the use of reasonable suspicion stops for certain categories of offenses, requiring officers to inform individuals that they have the right to refuse to consent to a search and requiring reasonable suspicion of evidence or contraband before searches;

(5) Limit arrests for low-level offenses and offenses where summonses and citations are adequate replacements;

(6) Establish standards for policies on the release of body cam footage;

(7) Require recordings of interrogations for accounts of the interrogations to be admissible in court;

(8) Allow for the appointment of special independent investigators or prosecutors for critical incidents;

(9) Re-evaluate the role of police unions in the setting of policy;

(10) Require policing agencies to release to the public all department policies, information on the policing agency's use of surveillance technologies, complaint data, and crime and call for service data;

(11) Mandate data collection and reporting for all enforcement actions;

(12) Review criminal codes and consider decriminalizing low-level offenses for which arrests and criminal penalties are inappropriate; and

(13) Discourage the use of police stops as a deterrent to criminal activity, rather than investigating it; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the families of those harmed by police violence, county and municipal boards, relevant state agencies, and Governor JB Pritzker.