Republican legislators call for SAFE-T act amendments following Swedish Hospital shooting

SPRINGFIELD — Republican lawmakers in Springfield are calling for amendments to the SAFE-T act in the wake of the fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer, allegedly by a man who had been granted pretrial release by a Chicago judge.

Alphanso Talley is accused of shooting two police officers at Swedish Hospital in Chicago. John Bartholomew, 38, was killed. A second officer was critically wounded.

Republicans have long pushed for amendments to the SAFE-T act, which abolished cash bail to give judges discretion over pre-trial release based on the flight risk posed by the accused person. House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said “this law is not working the way Democrats promised.”

Talley had a multi-year rap sheet and was awaiting trial for multiple violent charges. He was granted pre-trial release with an ankle monitor by Judge John Lyke.

Saturday, prosecutors allege, he robbed a dollar store, was captured, then taken to Swedish Hospital, where the officers were shot.

McCombie and Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) teamed up Wednesday to push bills amending the SAFE-T Act. The proposed legislation would revoke an individual’s eligibility for pre-trial release if they commit another, similar crime while awaiting trial under electronic monitoring.

“Pre-trial release is a second chance,” said Curran. “It is not a third, or fourth, or twelfth chance.”

Curran responded saying the SAFE-T act’s laws are too lenient and leave too much space for a judge to make a poor decision.

“In this instance, the judge would not have even been able to make that decision had we never passed the SAFE-T act,” Curran said.

Having missed multiple key deadlines in Springfield, the bills proposed by Curran and McCombie face a tough path to passage before the legislature wraps up in May.