Wescott voices concerns with justice reform bill

ROCK FALLS – Mayor Bill Wescott Tuesday offered council members his thoughts on a criminal justice reform bill that awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.

House Bill 3653 would eliminate cash bail, make body cameras mandatory for law enforcement, make it easier to decertify officers, and bar officers from using deadly force unless they are defending themselves or others.

“I still was disappointed in the way this was handled,” Wescott said. “It was just thrown out there without time for everyone to review the finer components. It did pass, and there have been a couple of things added and perhaps others will be removed. The thing that is sad about it is that there are no funding sources identified for a lot of the changes that are being brought forth, so we’re going to have to watch that very closely.”

Wescott sent a letter to Pritzker to voice his concerns and ask that the bill not be signed, but has not heard back, he said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, City Administrator Robbin Blackert said grant agreements between the city and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity have been signed and returned. The grants deal with the economic impact of COVID-19 on area businesses.

There are other grants the city is waiting on, and she has not gotten word on those, she said.

“We really don’t have any additional movement right now on the economic support grant we did to reimburse us for the $122,000 we gave out to businesses,” she told the council.

One grant the city applied for would reimburse Rock Falls Tourism for grants it distributed to hospitality businesses to help them stay open through the pandemic.

Because the region has upgraded to Tier 1 mitigations because of lower COVID-19 numbers, the next meeting on Feb. 2 could be held in person in council chambers, Wescott added.