By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – The Republicans for governor and attorney general in Illinois picked up some police union endorsements Monday.
The Chicago and state Fraternal Order of Police are backing Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) for governor.
“If you think crime in Illinois is bad now,” said Bailey, “what in the world is it going to look like in 2023, when (Gov. JB) Pritzker’s no-cash-bail law opens up the prison doors, and he throws away the keys?
“It gets worse. With crime skyrocketing, families and businesses (are) fleeing the state, and our jobs are leaving with them.”
Downstate lawyer Tom DeVore is the unions’ choice for attorney general.
“Even though I don’t live in the city of Chicago, I am not one of those folks who believes that, well, that’s the city of Chicago’s problem; we live in a different part of the state. That’s not true.
“If you think that there’s not a collateral effect to us not taking the crime (seriously) that’s happening here, look at places like Champaign and Decatur. Those cities are starting to suffer from the same consequences. The collar counties as well – that’s all people talk about is this crime.”
During Bailey’s portion of Monday’s event, “we’re not going to take questions,” Chicago FOP Lodge 7 president John Catanzara told reporters, “so you don’t put your own spin on it.”
DeVore did take a question and a follow-up about the consent decree over Chicago, saying there must be a discussion among all involved and that he expects all police to act responsibly; bad apples are isolated cases.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
