July 06, 2025
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Letter: Ignore the hysteria: What the Safe-T Act really does

Sauk Valley Letters to the Editor

Sauk Valley Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I am tired of all the misinformation about the Safe-T Act going around, so maybe we should just take a step back and look at what the act really does.

Instead of a system where criminals can buy their way out of jail before a trial, we are moving to a pretrial detention system based on danger to the community.

That gives prosecutors and judges all the discretion they need to keep hardened, dangerous criminals behind bars. There is nothing in the law that requires those suspected of crimes to be let out of prison, and judges are still able to impose pre-trial restrictions on dangerous people.

The bill does not eliminate prisons. Dangerous people aren’t going to be released into the public. OK?

  • The bottom line is that our current system allows people to be released from jail if they have the money for bail. The SAFE-T Act removes money as a factor while allowing judges to detain offenders they deem to be a threat.
  • The SAFE-T Act does not create any “non-detainable offenses.” Illinois law has no such thing.
  • The Safe-T act does not defund the police.
  • The SAFE-T Act was passed in 2021 and several parts have been in effect since Thursday, July 1, 2021. The removal of cash bail will begin Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, regardless of who is elected in November.

Politicians love to cherry pick parts of the act to raise hysteria among the voters. Don’t let them get away with that.

Carol S. Ahrens

Rock Falls

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