Illinois Law Enforcement Support Policy Priorities For Crime Prevention

On February 5th, 152 Illinois law enforcement leaders signed-on to a letter to Governor Bruce Rauner and leaders of the General Assembly, urging them to adopt budget and policy priorities for FY2019 that support programs proven to reduce crime.

These priorities included:

• An increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant, supporting voluntary preschool and birth-to-3 opportunities.
• Maintaining funding for Healthy Families Illinois and Parents Too Soon, home visiting programs for new parents of at-risk children.
• Increased funding for Teen REACH, which provides quality after school programs for youth, during the hours known as “prime time for juvenile crime.”
• Continued funding for juvenile Redeploy Illinois to cut recidivism for young offenders.
• Full support for the Child Care Assistance Program, which provides child care assistance for low-income, working families.

“We firmly believe there is a great deal we can accomplish proactively,” wrote the police chiefs, sheriffs, state’s attorneys, and leaders of law enforcement organizations who signed the letter, “creating the conditions that prevent people from engaging in criminal activity in the first place.”