Crime to be a major issue in 2022 elections

The issue of rising crime around the state isn’t going away. You’ll hear more about it during the end of the legislative session this week and it is sure to be a prime campaign issue between now and November.

As lawmakers talk about crime, Democrats are focused on a balance between keeping people safe and “restorative justice,” and Republicans are calling for stiffer penalties for offenders.

The reality is there is no easy answer to cracking down on crime, criminals, illegal guns or repeat offenders.

I planned to write this column on my belief that even as a pro-Second Amendment conservative, there should be stiffer penalties for people who are arrested for, tried, convicted, and sentenced for stealing a gun, possessing an illegal gun, buying an illegal gun, or committing a gun crime (which is usually done with illegal guns anyway). I’m self-aware enough to know that I don’t have all the answers. So, I called some prosecutors, judges, current and retired law enforcement officers, and experts to ask them how we best crack down on crime and if stiffer penalties were the answer. Some were Democrats, some were Republicans, and some were non-partisan and just interested in the policy aspect of the discussion.

There’s a lot of finger pointing going on. Police don’t think prosecutors are doing enough. Prosecutors don’t think judges are doing enough. And judges don’t think the legislature is giving them the tools to keep serial offenders locked up.

Crime also looks different in different parts of the state. While Chicago and some suburbs are facing a huge uptick in gun crimes and carjackings, I talked to a rural downstate sheriff last week who told me nearly every call his department responds to, mostly break-ins, theft and domestic violence, roots back to the availability of drugs – such as heroin and alcohol – or mental illness.

Nearly everyone I talked to says police need more tools to do their jobs. That means more license plate reading cameras that can identify cars and people at the scene of crimes.

Prosecutors are frustrated because they have a hard time getting witnesses to testify because of a belief that someone doesn’t want to “narc” on a friend, family member or neighbor. They also argue too many judges are giving too much leniency in cases of multiple gun crimes or violent offenses in that person’s past.

Judges, meanwhile, say they’re left with bad choices when they must decide whether someone who commits a minor gun crime should be sent to prison, even if there is an obvious suspicion this person may commit a more serious gun crime in the future. The judges say they need more flexibility in sentencing and when the criminal justice bill that eliminates cash bail takes effect in 2023.

While some more conservative law enforcement types believe there should be stricter penalties for possessing or using an illegal weapon, many believe existing penalties will keep truly dangerous criminals in prison.

There’s a societal part of this that a kid who grew up on a farm downstate with shotguns and rifles in a cabinet right inside the front door doesn’t understand. I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in fear that your neighborhood could be shot up at anytime or going to the park means you may have to protect yourself.

What I do know is there’s a lot of work to do for police to build bridges in communities where they aren’t trusted. What I know is social service agencies should make violence reduction part of their work in neighborhoods. What I know is we need more mental health services available around the state. What I surely know is the legislature doesn’t have all the answers to fix the problem. Frankly, neither do I.

• Patrick Pfingsten is a former award-winning journalist and longtime Republican strategist who writes The Illinoize statewide political newsletter. You can read more at www.theillinoize.com or contact him at patrick@theillinoize.com.