Risks in the race to be the people’s main advocate in Peoria
By admin | 14th August 2008
Anyone who’s seen TV’s Law & Order has seen a dramatization of the prickly relationship between police and prosecutors, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when any incumbent State’s Attorney is not endorsed by police groups.
However, there are real risks in raising crime as the main issue in the campaign between Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Darin LaHood.
First, no one besides criminals favors crime – there’s no “Go crime!” lobby to oppose real law and order – so the debate can escalate into who’s tougher – and tough means different things to different people.
For instance, is it “tougher” to torture suspects or to adhere to international law?
Next, local leaders must be anxious about the economic-development fallout of widely publicizing public-safety statistics. Such information should not be kept classified, of course. However, some context would make it easier to describe all the positives of the county to prospective workers, employers and residents rather than isolated statements that things have gone to hell in a handbasket. “The highest crime rate in the state of Illinois” must be about as popular for Peoria boosters as accurate-but-incomplete criticisms about local government bureaucracy, deteriorating infrastructure, inadequate schools, a silting river, and a Hall of Famer who can’t seem to keep from getting thrown out of minor-league ballgames he’s managing.
Mostly though, police officers might be more careful what they wish for – and this is no reflection on LaHood as much as any challenger.
State’s Attorneys don’t determine sentencing guidelines, which are set by lawmakers and interpreted by judges after arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, and requests by juries.
State’s Attorneys don’t decide guilt or innocence, which is still mostly established by a jury or a judge.
And State’s Attorneys don’t investigate, compile evidence or apprehend suspects, which is handled by police officers.
So while LaHood has been endorsed by the county’s biggest police organizations – the Peoria Police Benevolent Association, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Fraternal Order of Police, the Bartonville Police Benevolent Union, and Chillicothe police – that doesn’t mean he’d ever get another endorsement, should he prevail in November. Police will find fault with the office. Further, it’s unclear whether eight other county police agencies (mostly smaller communities) intend to weigh in on the politics while basically saying, “Despite our jobs, crime is winning.”
Elected in 1988, Lyons is serving his fourth four-year term as Peoria’s State’s Attorney. A former president of the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Association, he’s the state’s representative on the governing board of the National District Attorney’s Association. Lyons has 20 years experience as a prosecutor and a good track record, but also has a reputation of an acidic wit. One Democrat said, “He’s fair, but he can be a smart aleck. But he’s OUR smart aleck.”
Darin LaHood was an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties and for four years worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nev., where he served as Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor there. LaHood has the political pedigree of his dad Ray, the retiring U.S. Representative and long-time Congressional aide, and a flashy resume, but listing the work on terror cases seems thin. It’s like Jack Paar’s famous comment about an actor/composer: “Steve Allen has claimed to have written over 1,000 songs. Name one.”
Of course, the Illinois State Police do show Peoria and Winnebago counties as the state’s only counties with more than 6,000 crimes per 100,000 people, according to Northern Illinois University’s Regional Development Institute’s analysis of ISP’s “Crime in Illinois/2005” report. But it’s unclear whether a State’s Attorney could do more than a well-funded police force with skilled detectives, able judges, conscientious jurors and a responsible legislature.
It’s been mentioned by some that there’s too many plea bargains, but no State’s Attorney can unilaterally compel one. Plus, sensible plea bargains save the criminal justice system considerable time and money.
It’s also been mentioned that jail time should be longer, but prisons are past capacity now.
“Bureau of Justice Statistics figures for 2005 indicate that there were nearly 2.2 million inmates in the nation’s prisons and jails, representing an increase of 2.7% (58,500) over the previous 12 months,” according to the nonpartisan Sentencing Project. “The new figures represent a record, 33-year continuous rise in the number of inmates in the United States. The current incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 residents places the United States first in the world.”
And if anyone has mentioned preventing crimes or addressing root causes for breaking some laws, such as poverty, it’s been very quiet.
Besides endorsements from police, LaHood has an edge in fund raising – reporting more than $120,000 in 2008 contributions through June, compared to Lyons’ donations of $32,000 over the same period. But Peorians’ election of a State’s Attorney – who also advocates on behalf of the county’s citizens as well as victims of crime – will not be as simple as advertising or even campaigning, or the self-evident concept that crime is bad.
Both Lyons and LaHood are aggressive, intelligent and likeable.
Lyons is less of a hearty politician than a serious prosecutor.
LaHood is less of a natural prosecutor than an earnest public servant.
The race may come down to management style, and demonstrating it to the electorate.
As political writer Joe Klein notes in his current book Politics Lost, contemporary campaigning tempts journalists (and, therefore, voters) to obsess on horse races – who’s “up” and who’s “down.”
Forgotten in the frenzy and foolishness is “a sober assessment of character and leadership ability,” Klein writes.
Bill Knight is an award-winning journalist who teaches at Western Illinois University. Contact him at bill.knight@hotmail.com.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Great column! Should be required reading for all voters.