CHICAGO — Some Illinois state legislators are trying to make it legal for people who might appear to be having a mental health episode to attack police officers. But it would still be illegal to attack firemen like the one the bill’s chief sponsor is married to.
Rep. Lisa Davis introduced House Bill #3458 last month and picked up two co-sponsors yesterday: Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who represents parts of the North Side, and Rep. Marcus Evans, Jr., whose district includes parts of the South Side and adjacent suburbs.
If it becomes law, the bill would “[provide] that it is a defense to aggravated battery when the individual battered is a peace officer and the officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom a reasonable officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person with whom the officer interacted has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly.”…