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Illinois had two new Bills signed last week create more opportunities to make expressways like the I-90 and the Jean-Baptise Pointe Dusable Lake Shore Drive much safer. The Bills were signed Friday by Gov. J.B Pritzker with the mission of having an expansion of expressway cameras in over two dozen counties across Illinois with most of the cameras being along with Chicago.
Cameras will be placed along said expressways as a helpful tool for many law enforcement in Chicago and many other Illinois areas. It also makes investigating crimes such as carjackings, shootings, kidnappings, and other crimes much easier with the increase in surveillance.
There have been 69 expressways shooting in the Cook County area halfway into the year, according to Pritzker’s office. Of the Thiry-two of the shootings resulted in injuries, and one of them lead to death.
There were 264 expressway shootings reported last year in Illinois. Of the 264, 114 led to injured citizens and 22 resulted in death. Although 2020 may have had lesser numbers, 72 people were still shot and seven have died in a similar shooting.
“In our school, our parks, and even on our expressways, there is nothing more important than the safety of Illinois citizens,” said Pritzker. ” By signing the bill, Illinois law enforcement agencies will have the tools to respond to criminal activity in a timely and efficient manner and ensure the safety and security of our residents, while also bringing criminals to justice”
The Illinois State Police with the help of the Chicago and Illinois Department of Transportation has installed 150 plus automated license plate readers along with the Dan Ryan, I-90, I-290, I-55, and I-57 expressways. Throughout the summer there are plans that 150 more installations will be in place.
The first bill signed will increase the number of cameras on expressways and state highways in the following Counties:
- Cook
- Boone
- Bureau
- Champaign
- Cook
- DeKalb
- DuPage
- Grundy
- Henry
- Kane
- Kendall
- Lake
- LaSalle
- Macon
- Madison
- McHenry
- Morgan
- Peoria
- Rock Island
- Sangamon
- St. Clair
- Will
- Winnebago
The second Bill signed allowed the use of expressways cameras specifically for the DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Senator Sara Feignholtz said that expressways cameras are needed as a counter to many crimes that occur on Jean-Baptise DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Protecting our lakefront communities and this critical piece of infrastructure is a top priority and am proud to see Gov. Pritzker sign this law to expand the expressway camera program
Pritzers office also said that $20 million that came from the budget of the state were used for expanding technology for citizens’ safety.
Written by Daylontie Jasper
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Source:
WTTW: More Expressway Cameras Coming to Cook County Expressways, DuSable Lake Shore Drive Under New Law; by Matt Masterson
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Inset Image Courtesy of vxla’s Flicker Page – Creative Commons License
