East Central Reporter

Veteran state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) is imploring citizens not to lose sight of what he thinks the country stands for as the debate over police reform continues to play out.

“We are a country based on letter of the law,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “And even in the days of the Wild, Wild West, there was still a sheriff in town. The idea of totally abandoning the law enforcement mechanism seems rather foolish to me and a lot of others.”

The growing movement to do away with police departments has been sweeping the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, leading to protests and violence across the country. Minneapolis City Council members were among the early supporters of the push to permanently do away with their city's Police Department, and the idea quickly gained the support of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and more recently the leaders of the Chicago Public Schools.

Miller said Democrats like Omar rallying behind the idea of defunding the police strikes him as more political grandstanding.

“Where I come from, the people are strong on common-sense thinking and everything about this to me flies in the face of sound decision-making,” he said. “I think what we’re seeing is a vocal minority standing behind this idea while not being sure of what their end game is and Democrats maybe backing the concept just to create more division.”

Miller said he also views proposals like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfooot’s that would require all police officers to be licensed by the state as nonsensical.

“I think somewhere along the line Mayor Lightfoot may have slipped a gear and her elevator is not going to the top anymore,” he said. “But I’ve always said people’s true character is revealed when they get power. In the case of Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. (J.B.) Pritzker, I think the one thing we’ve seen is that they’re not good at managing power and right now they’re doing so totally against the will of the people.”