Less Than 3 Months Until Law Enforcement Body Camera Deadline

A recent investigative news report found that with less than three months to go until the state mandated deadline, half of Illinois troopers are still working without body cameras. Due to a state law passed in 2021 called the SAFE-T Act, all law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois are required to wear body cameras by January 1, 2025.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie expressed frustration with the SAFE-T Act, and in particular the body camera mandate, which she believes has a disproportionate effect on smaller departments. According to the law, the body camera rollout dates were implemented based on the number of people the 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 & state agencies

"This is a piece of that bill that has some good intent, but again, they don't think about how you're going to roll it out, you don't think about the cost, you don't think about the impact from locals and it fails," McCombie said.

McCombie remains supportive of body cameras as a tool to improve public safety and transparency. The Leader also launched a working group to further review what more can be done to improve the flawed SAFE-T: the Truth in Public Safety (TIPS) working group has introduced legislative measures focused on three main areas: Protecting crime victims, retaining and recruiting law enforcement officers, and ensuring pre-trial fairness applies to everyone, including victims and the public.