In the second episode of our three‑part SAFE‑T Act series, Illinois House Speaker Pro Tempore Representative Kam Buckner and State Senator John Curran join the conversation—bringing perspectives from both sides of the General Assembly. They discuss how the bill was crafted without meaningful input from local law enforcement, the shift from reactive to proactive policing by blending data-driven models with broken‑windows theory, and the lessons learned from police chiefs across the country. They also unpack the behind‑the‑scenes political currents that shape policing in ways the public rarely sees, the urgency to act following high‑profile tragedies like George Floyd and Laquan McDonald, and the debate over wise versus wasteful use of police resources—especially given Chicago’s unique history and violence patterns. This episode pulls back the curtain on policy-making, giving you a legislative lens on the public safety reforms sweeping Illinois.

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Between Two Linebackers

03:00 Who is John Curran?

05:27 Who is Kam Buckner?

09:07 Telling Cops How to Do Their Jobs

10:43 Who Wrote the SAFE-T Act?

14:56 Reactive Policing to Proactive Policing

18:00 Ron Serpas and Data-Driven Policing

19:15 “Doing Something” After George Floyd

20:58 Learning from Other Chiefs

23:20 Policing Gang Activity

25:05 Abandoning Winning Strategies

26:10 Experts Versus Politicians

27:40 How Do We Move Forward?

30:21 The Three Kinds of Police

31:28 Dispatching and the Clean Screen

32:02 Using Cops Wisely

34:15 Laquan McDonald and George Floyd

37:15 Miranda Rights Were “Radical” Too

38:22 Half Cop/Half Egghead

39:11 Collaboration and Deadlines

40:24 Pre-trial Fairness Act

42:26 Learning from Scandals

45:01 Overlooking Black on Black Crime

46:18 Chicago’s History of Violence

48:10 Cops are Human

49:58 Executing the Law

51:52 Suggested Fixes

52:52 Felony Murder

56:10 Conclusion

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