Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Illinois House passes modifications to heavily debated criminal justice reform ‘SAFE-T Act’

Posted: 13 Apr 2022 06:39 PM PDT

File Photo – Illinois House of Representatives | Photo: Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons

(The Center Square) – The Illinois House passed follow-up legislation to the SAFE-T Act which will allow defendants on electronic monitoring to be able to have periods of “free movement.”

The Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act, was passed in the previous General Assembly in 2021.

Democrats say it is a holistic approach to combat crime and reform police.

Now, state Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, and other democratic lawmakers are looking to make changes with House Bill 2364.

The proposed provisions include changes to the electronic home monitoring that would allow for defendants with ankle monitors to have up to “two periods of time” of free movement.

Another change would give police officers the ability to arrest someone on minor charges if they believe that person is a risk to the community.

“To honor the true intent and objectives of the SAFE-T Act, we put forward these refinements to respect the great people of Illinois and to respect our brave men and women that are implementing these reforms,” Slaughter said.

Republicans have been calling for months to repeal SAFE-T Act, but those calls led to a heated debate between both sides during the early morning hours of the Illinois House session Saturday.

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, argued that there was a lack of collaboration and that the legislation will not do what Democrats are hoping it will.

“This is deja vu,” Windhorst said. “A criminal justice bill at 4 a.m. with no law enforcement involvement and no public input, if you look at this bill it’s not going to do what it claims it will do.”

State Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, echoed Windhorst’s thoughts in a statement released on her website.

"The new SAFE-T Act has made Illinois a less safe place to live for just about everyone,” Bourne said.

“Something needs to be done to address violent crime in Illinois, but it is clear rushing legislation through the General Assembly was not the right solution," Bourne said.

Slaughter said Republicans do not care about public safety as long as the violence is in “black communities.”

"In the Black community, it's been a state of emergency for a really long time now," Slaughter said.

"But as long as crime and violence are contained in the hood, it was OK, as long as Black folks terrorize other people of color, it was fine. But now, Chiraq is in your communities. And now, it's a state of emergency,” he said.

The comment was met with objection from Republicans as Slaughter continued.

“We can smell it,” Slaughter yelled. “It is a bad stench of racism coming from the other side of the aisle.”

HB2364 changes passed the House 64-45 but the legislation still needs concurrence from the Senate before being sent to the governor.

Lawmakers may not return to the capitol until after the November elections.

‘Jake will always be watching over us’: Wife of McHenry County sheriff’s deputy killed in line of duty releases statement after trial

Posted: 13 Apr 2022 04:30 PM PDT

The Keltner Family | Photo via Facebook

The wife of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was fatally shot in the line of duty, said she is happy with the outcome of the trial after Keltner’s murderer was convicted.

“It's hard to even know what to say about the last two weeks. I saw and heard things I can't unsee/hear and I'm emotionally drained. It was hard to hear all the details of what happened (on) March 7, 2019 and even harder to hear him try to justify what he did,” Becki Keltner said in a public Facebook post.

A federal trial began on March 28 for Floyd E. Brown, 42, of Springfield, who was charged with multiple felonies for shooting and killing Jacob Keltner, 35.

Keltner, who was a sheriff’s deputy in McHenry County for almost 13 years, worked as a Special Deputy for the U.S. Marshal Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.

The task force on March 7, 2019, was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Brown, who was staying at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Rockford to avoid apprehension on outstanding warrants that he had for residential burglary.

When the task force knocked on the front door of the third-floor room where Brown was staying, he opened fire on the officers with a high-powered rifle.

After firing ten shots and narrowly missing a deputy U.S. Marshal and two special deputy U.S. Marshals, Brown jumped out of a window and fired a shot that fatally struck Keltner, who was covering the exterior of the hotel.

McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim talks with sheriff's deputies outside of the Extended Stay Hotel, 747 North Bell School Road in Rockford, after a McHenry County Sheriff's deputy was fatally shot on March 7, 2019. | Photo: Alex Vucha / Lake and McHenry County Scanner

“I saw just how many people he affected from his heinous, hatred acts and that hurt,” Becki Keltner said.

“But I also saw how many people tried to help Jake, which brings me comfort.”

Keltner appreciated the support she has received from friends and family.

Brown fled the scene in a vehicle and led Illinois State Police and other agencies on a 150-mile pursuit.

Pursuit speed reached over 100 mph until Brown’s vehicle came to a stop on Interstate 55 near Lincoln, Illinois when he ran over spike strips.

Brown was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a government officer, two counts of assaulting or impeding a federal officer, unlawful transport of firearms, possession of defaced firearms, firearm possession in furtherance of violent crime where death occurs and firearm possession in furtherance of violent crime.

A jury on Friday found Brown guilty of all charges except for first-degree murder, which is considered premeditated murder.

The jury, however, found Brown guilty of second-degree murder, which is considered murder that is not premeditated.

McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner (left) and Floyd E. Brown, 42, of Springfield (right). | Provided Photos

“I'm happy with the outcome. We got him convicted of murder, attempted murder, and plenty of other charges. The ultimate goal was always to make sure he could never hurt someone again,” Becki Keltner said.

Keltner was thankful to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office for supporting her and her two children.

“Will anything ever be enough to erase what he did? Absolutely not. We still have to live with the senseless and cruel loss of a man who made everyone smile with the sound of his laugh. But it could have been so much worse,” she said.

Keltner was fortunate that Brown missed the shots at the three other marshals.

Keltner said she plans on confronting Brown during his sentencing hearing on July 19 with a victim impact statement.

“I can finally look forward to whatever the future holds for me and having the weight of the trial off my shoulders feels better than you can imagine. Jake will always be watching over us as we move forward and I'm still the luckiest girl alive for being the one who got to love him,” she added.