Rockford Sun

Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana took to the airwaves to express his displeasure with the soon-to-take-effect SAFE-T ACT. 

Caruana spoke about the Safe-T Act on YouTube as the criticism against it, which goes into force on Jan. 1, grows. 

“The reason I was compelled to do that is it's just that it just doesn't make sense in law enforcement,” Caruana told Chicago’s Morning Answer. “It takes everything that we've known and what we try to do to protect the communities, families, and give them the right to go to a grocery store, go and shop freely and everybody's concern and speaks with me as like the crime is really spiking. Well, guess what? It's going to spike even more come January 1, because I have a daily population of 800 to 850 and roughly I'm letting out with this new law roughly 400 inmates. And these you know, these crimes are serious with that. I know if you've seen and I know that I mentioned them on the video, but it's aggravated battery, robbery, burglary and hate crimes, aggravated DUI. Think about that. Vehicular manslaughter and drug-induced homicide, drug offenses, including trafficking and delivery of fentanyl, which many times we are doing Narcan saves. Not once, not twice, but three times, if not more intimidation, kidnapping, second-degree murder, aggravated fleeing, a threat to public officials — and that poses a problem.” 

Caruana echoed that "it's a serious problem and I'm just concerned that we're not going to have the freedoms that we have."

"I mean, if you look at the New York law and California and see what's going on there, pretty much all these models it," he said. "And I just what compelled me to do the video. I'm very concerned about our public safety.” 

Caruana also explained that "in courts right now, judges are looking at one who needs to be detained and who doesn't need to be detained and how serious of the crime is it?" 

"And the ones I just explain there's a matrix that they follow the judicial system, the judges before pretrial and say that doesn't fit into this House bill 3653, this SAFE-T Act, which I'm not sure how they named that, but it is what it is," the Winnebago County Sheriff explained. "They will be released.”

In his YouTube video, he underscored several flaws of the bill: eliminating cash bail, incarcerated people will be released means there is a possibility that 'they do the same type of crime, may intimidate witnesses, and make people not want to report crimes.' Caruana called on the community that "It's not too late, what I ask is that you call your local legislators down in Springfield, insist, insist, because remember this was a lame duck session, that was passed, insist that they repeal this."

Only 2 of the 102 state lawyers in Illinois are in support of the act, and the majority are in favor of repealing or amending the act, according to Madison-St. Clair Record. 

Caruana served as a Winnebago County deputy for ten years before being appointed sheriff in 2014. He has also worked as a corporate security officer for public buildings, such as airports, in Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford.