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Bureau County sheriff candidates face off on SAFE-T Act, radios, Flock cameras at Princeton forum · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Bureau County Sheriff Candidates face off on SAFE-T act, Radio's flock cameras,
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  at Princeton Forum. Written by Emily Beebe This article is being read
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  by an automated voice, brought to you by Everlet. Two candidates for
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  Bureau County Sheriff faced off at a forum Tuesday at the Princeton
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  Moose Lodge, answering questions on The
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  state's SAFE-T
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  Act, flock surveillance cameras and a communication system one candidate called a
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  dire safety issue. Princeton Police Chief Tom Camerer, the Republican candidate, and
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  Bureau County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Whittig, the Democratic candidate, each had three
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  minutes per question. Voters choose between them on November 3rd. The Safety
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  Act Both said the Safety Act, specifically its pretrial fairness provisions, went
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  too far. Camera said many crimes once punishable by arrest became offenses
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  with no bail. Someone who trespasses now, gets a citation. You really
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  gave to commit a very egregious offence to be able to be
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  detained these days, he said. Cammer said officers have sighted the same
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  person five, six or seven times in a single day at the
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  same place. It is a danger to the public what's going on
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  right now, he said Holding someone once gave officers a chance to
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  get that person away from addiction and connect the with help. That
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  s sort of leverage that we had at that point no longer
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  exists, he said. Wittig said the law made sense in theory because
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  no one should stay in jail longer for lacking the money to
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  bond out, but he said it showed criminals that there's no accountability
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  right now. Wittig described recidivism, which is dealing with the same people
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  over and over. They know if we put handcuffs on the we
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  take them to the the Sheriff's Department, they're processed and released before
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  we ever make it around to the front door to do the
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  report, he said. Both said they would push legislators to widen the
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  list of offenses that allow custody. Camer said he expects changes after
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  the election. Communications Cammerer called the county's radio system a dire safety
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  issue. He said the radios are antiquated, patchwork systems keep things running,
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  and deputies in some areas use cell phones to communicate. Those of
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  you who live out in the county, like I do, know that
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  your cellphone doesn't usually work in many places here, He said that
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  a very big safety issue. Camera said a full project would cost
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  two to three million dollars, and federal and state legislators have committed
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  to prioritizing it. Wittig didn't see it as dire. He credited current
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  Bureau County Sheriff James Reed and the current administration for new radios
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  in squad cars. The issue, he said, isn't that they can't communicate,
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  it's that radios fight with each other when deputies are close together,
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  He said equipment that makes the first car on scene the primary
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  signal could fix that. Flock cameras. Camera called the cameras a good
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  tool, in cited cases. A murder suspect tracked to a 7 Eleven
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  parking lot in Florida and arrested, a suspect in a Decatur stabbing
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  caught after cameras flagged him heading toward the area, and a suicidal
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  subject found and saved. Camer's concern is private entities such as banks
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  putting cameras on tow trucks and businesses monitoring their lots. He wants
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  state legislation limiting access to public safety and said his department audit
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  searches every 30 days. Wittig said the cameras are a good tool
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  but worth an audit. The department pays a monthly fee and Hat
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  wants to know whether the cameras are solving crime or monitoring other
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  things. Do we keep it? I don't know yet, he said, but
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  I promise you when I do you'll know.