By admin ILLINOIS (KWQC) – Every law enforcement agency in Illinois must have body cameras by January 1, 2025, but with less than 80 days until the deadline, Illinois State Police say it is in the pilot phase.
Both Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the state police confirm that the agency is in the pilot phase and employs 982 officers out of 1,800 troopers. Pritzker’s office and state police said all troopers would be properly equipped by the deadline.
In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed the SAFE-T Act, which included a mandate for all law enforcement agencies with varying enforcement deadlines based on the number of people a department serves.
- January 1, 2022 – +500,000 people
- January 1, 2023 – 100,000–500,000 people
- January 1, 2024 – 50,000–100,000 people
- January 1, 2025 – -50,000 people and state agencies
State Rep. Tony McCombie said she finds the late implementation frustrating because he feels it’s a slap in the face to smaller departments that have had to stretch themselves to pay for body cameras, unlike the Illinois State Police, which has many more resources .
“It’s a piece of the bill that has good intentions, but again, you don’t think about how you implement it, you don’t think about the costs, you don’t think about the impact from residents, and it fails,” McCombie said.
State Sen. Mike Halpin says lawmakers intentionally gave the state police deadlines, including a January 2025 date, which he believes the agency will be ready to implement on time.
“I’m confident the state police will get there before the deadline,” Halpin said. “We gave them the deadline we gave them so they had time to do it. That’s where we’re going to put our hope at the end of the year.”
What happens if the State Police does not deliver body cameras in time? When TV6 Investigates dug deeper into the issue, it turns out that there is virtually no penalty for violating the mandate.
Watch the full TV6 Investigates special report tonight at 10:00.
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