Endorsement: DeKalb County state's attorney: Rick Amato

Republican Rick Amato of Sycamore is seeking his second term as the county’s highest prosecutor, and is challenged by Democrat Anna Wilhelmi of Earlville for DeKalb County state’s attorney.

Amato, elected first to the office in 2016 after running a private practice based in DeKalb County, focused on criminal defense from 2004 to 2016, said he seeks another term to continue initiatives he’s overseen the past four years. His 2020 campaign emphasizes justice, fairness, public safety and accountability, and Amato ran the first time touting a strong working relationship with area law enforcement. If reelected, he’d enter a second term in office under the scrutiny of hundreds of local activists calling for better transparency and accountability in policing.

Wilhelmi, a fellow Northern Illinois University graduate who currently practices real estate law based out of Rockford but said she has a strong criminal law background, is a newcomer to public office, and the state’s attorney position would be her first elected role. She said she was inspired to run after the death of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.

“Before he died, he said, ‘What did we do in 2019 to keep our democracy intact?’ ” Wilhelmi recalled. “And his words really resonated with me, and he changed my mind. So I decided to run.”

Wilhelmi’s platform is focused on truth, integrity and justice, and she’s campaigned at length, calling for police to address what she says is systemic racism in policing and the court system.

We commend both candidates this campaign season for their energy campaigning in person, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and addressing issues brought forward by the community during these tense times, which require courage and commitment to face in public office.

While we believe Wilhelmi’s right that addressing and weeding out racially biased policies and actions in crime and courts is essential to a strong state’s attorney’s office, we think Amato’s experience will give him a leg up in that mission.

This summer, amid daily Black Lives Matter marches, he helped guide the county’s biggest law enforcement agencies – DeKalb, Sycamore and Northern Illinois University police, along with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office – to review use-of-force policies.

All four agencies now have banned use of choke holds and added a “duty to intervene” clause to their policies.

Amato also has shown his ability to bring forward new initiatives to tackle the county’s biggest issues, including opioid addiction, violent crime and domestic violence.

“That’s our county’s No. 1 problem when it comes to criminal cases,” he said. “We’re having five to 15 domestic violence cases a week. There’s always children that are observing abuse. We need to continue to build programs to serve our victims.”

Under Amato's leadership, the courthouse implemented a felony review program, as well as the Stacia Hollinshead Veterans Program – named after Stacia Hollinshead, a DeKalb County assistant state's attorney who in March 2019 was brutally murdered by her ex-husband in front of their daughter after suffering years of custody battles, stalking and abuse, according to DeKalb County court records.

In conjunction with the DeKalb Police Department, Project HOPE so far has helped 14 people tackle drug addiction, Amato said. The program allows those facing addiction to turn in their drugs to authorities – “with no coercion of charges, absolute none,” Amato said – and in turn, are put into rehabilitation immediately, a safer and more lasting form of reform than jail.

In the next four years, however, we encourage Amato to remember that while things may look fair and just on paper and in policy, they are not always so when applied in the real world, during arrests and in courtrooms.

As we've seen in Minneapolis during the arrest and death of George Floyd, or in DeKalb County during the arrest of Elonte McDowell, a Black man from Aurora who was seen on video being held around his neck by a DeKalb police officer using what a forensic police officer (appointed by Amato's office to investigate) later determined was an illegal chokehold, rules aren't always followed in the field.

And police officers don’t always intervene, regardless of duty. But we also believe Amato’s experience working professionally with law enforcement agencies is essential to their continued improvement and success.

We believe Amato brings sincerity, experience and integrity to the state’s attorney’s office.

Rick Amato is endorsed.