SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — There’s continued debate among members of the Illinois Crime Reduction Task Force on how Illinois should handle the sentencing of criminals throughout the state.
The task force recently met for the first time. The group discussed several topics, including crime statistics and violence prevention.
One topic that led to some disagreement was that of sentencing.
Ben Ruddell of the ACLU said changes need to be made to address some term lengths for different crimes.
“We need to stop admitting so many people into prison for low-level offenses like drug possession, shop lifting, things like that,” Ruddell said. “We also need to address long sentence length or excessive sentence lengths.”
Jim Kaitshuck of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association suggested bringing back programs from the 1990s to deal with crime.
“I think there needs to be accountability in the end,” Kaitshuck said. “What you saw back in the nineties can be attributed, to some extent, to some of those programs that were being done at the state and national level.”
Kaitshuck explained some of the programs he was referring to.
“In the nineties, there was a push for mandatory minimum sentencing, also under President Clinton, you had a significant push to hire more cops across the country,” Kaitshuck told The Center Square.
Ruddell had a different approach than law enforcement in suggesting overpopulating jails is not a way to stop crime.
“When we look to invest in the upstream solutions that are going to reduce and prevent crime in the long term, we need to look to be more efficient in what we are doing now,” Ruddell said. “That means not overusing incarceration.”
The group is tasked with submitting a detailed report on findings, recommendations, and resources to address crime throughout the state by next March.
By ANDREW HENSEL for the Illinois Radio Network
