Law enforcement in Illinois needs infusion of $759 million

The funding would be used to combat violence, fund training mandates, and recruit and retain officers to address critical shortage of officers at the state and local level

March 28, 2022

Law enforcement in Illinois needs an estimated $759 million in state funding to pay for all the new mandated training, combat the surge in violence and address a growing shortage of officers at the state and local level, according to an analysis from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police released March 28, 2022.

“As we have said many times in recent years, we welcome more training, we welcome new technologies such as body cameras and license plate readers, and we want to be held accountable in an increasingly transparent world,” said ILACP Executive Director Ed Wojcicki.

“But it costs money to do all of this, and legislators and others have been asking how much. Now we know: It is at least $759 million as an initial investment in public safety in Illinois.”

The Illinois Chiefs’ detailed analysis has five major categories and encourages the General Assembly to fund these items before adjourning next month:

“We also now know that about 60% of Illinois law enforcement agencies are not fully staffed; they have shortages and are having a more difficult time recruiting and retaining officers,” Wojcicki added. “Some officers are retiring. Some are going into other lines of work, and some are going to other states that they consider to be more police friendly, such as Indiana and Missouri.”

Details of the Illinois Chiefs’ analysis can be found in an online document here.