Bill Amendment: IL SB0730 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS-VARIOUS

Status: 2019-12-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 101-0617 [SB0730 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB0730-Senate_Amendment_001.html

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Sen. Terry Link

Filed: 4/4/2019

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 730
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 730 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the First
Responders Suicide Prevention Act.
Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
finds that:
(1) This State's first responders are tasked with work that
is highly stressful if one continually faces the impact of
murder, violence, accidents, serious injury, and death. The day
in and day out impact of these situations wreak havoc
personally and professionally on those who serve their
communities. Work as a first responder is a combination of
extreme boredom with incidents of mind-numbing terror. No
person, no matter how highly trained or well-adjusted, is
immune to the long-term impact of cumulative stress or sudden

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critical incidents.
(2) Since September 11, 2001, the role of first responders
has changed dramatically. First responders have become the
teachers, advocates, counselors, enforcement, and safety to
those they serve, yet year after year, police and firefighters
always rank at the top for the most stressful jobs in this
country. The demands of shift work, change in politics and
public policy, and having to make life changing decisions
within seconds are all contributing factors in the mental
health and welfare of our public servants. Alcoholism, divorce,
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
stress-related health issues, and suicide among first
responders are constantly well above the national average. The
health and well-being of first responders not only affect the
officer or firefighter, but those who work closely around the
first responder and the public he or she serves and protects.
(3) The purpose of this Act is to allow agencies to train
personnel in peer counseling. This allows firefighters and law
enforcement officers to have access to trained persons within
their respective fields to speak to and seek guidance during
difficult and challenging times in their careers and lives.
Most first responders feel comfortable speaking to others
within their profession that have experienced similar
situations. Allowing this type of counseling gives public
servants the ability to seek help during trying times with the
confidence of knowing their issue is held in confidence with

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someone who understands. No longer should these public servants
have to suffer in silence.
(4) Maintaining an emotional and mentally healthy class of
first responders should be a priority goal to achieve. Healthy
police make better decisions, increase productivity, create
better work environments, and respond to society in a much more
open and effective manner.
Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
"Emergency services provider" means any public employer
that employs persons to provide firefighting services.
"Emergency services personnel" means any employee of an
emergency services provider who is engaged in providing
firefighting services.
"Employee assistance program" means a program established
by a law enforcement agency or emergency services provider to
provide counseling support services to employees of the law
enforcement agency or emergency services provider, including
peer support counselors who have received training in
counseling and moral support.
"Law enforcement agency" means any county sheriff,
municipal police department, police department established by
a university, Department of State Police, Department of
Corrections, Department of Children and Family Services,
Division of Probation Services of the Supreme Court, the Office
of the Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator, and other local or county

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agency comprised of county probation officers, corrections
employees, or 9-1-1 telecommunicators or emergency medical
dispatchers.
"Peer support counseling session" means communication with
a counselor through an employee assistance program or a trained
peer support counselor designated by the emergency services
provider or law enforcement agency.
"Public safety personnel" means any employee of a law
enforcement agency.
Section 15. Establishment of employee assistance program;
applicability.
(a) This Act applies to peer support counseling sessions
conducted by an employee or other person who:
(1) has been designated by a law enforcement agency or
emergency services provider or by an employee assistance
program to act as a counselor; and
(2) has received training in counseling to provide
emotional and moral support to public safety personnel or
emergency services personnel who have been involved in
emotionally traumatic incidents by reason of their
employment that may affect their ability to execute their
respective duties.
(b) An emergency services provider or law enforcement
agency may establish an employee assistance program to assist
emergency services personnel and public safety personnel,

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including designating a person within the emergency services
provider or law enforcement agency to act as a peer support
counselor. An emergency services provider or law enforcement
agency shall give appropriate training in counseling to provide
emotional and moral support to persons designated as a peer
support counselor. Emergency services personnel and public
safety personnel may refer any person to an employee assistance
program or peer support counselor within the emergency services
provider or law enforcement agency, or if those services are
not available within the agency, to another employee assistance
program or peer support counseling program that is available.
Section 20. Confidentiality; exemptions.
(a) Any communication made by a participant or counselor in
a peer support counseling session conducted by a law
enforcement agency or by an emergency services provider for
public safety personnel or emergency services personnel and any
oral or written information conveyed in the peer support
counseling session is confidential and may not be disclosed by
any person participating in the peer support counseling
session.
(b) Any communication relating to a peer support counseling
session made confidential under this Section that is made
between counselors, between counselors and the supervisors or
staff of an employee assistance program, or between the
supervisor or staff of an employee assistance program, is

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confidential and may not be disclosed.
(c) This Section does not prohibit any communications
between counselors who conduct peer support counseling
sessions or any communications between counselors and the
supervisors or staff of an employee assistance program.
(d) This Section does not apply to:
(1) any threat of suicide or homicide made by a
participant in a peer counseling session or any information
conveyed in a peer support counseling session related to a
threat of suicide or homicide;
(2) any information relating to the abuse of children
or of the elderly or other information that is required to
be reported by law; or
(3) any admission or knowledge of criminal conduct.
(e) All communications, notes, records, and reports
arising out of a peer support counseling session shall be
exempt from inspection and copying under the Freedom of
Information Act.
(f) A cause of action exists for public safety personnel or
emergency services personnel if the emergency services
provider or law enforcement agency uses confidential
information obtained during a confidential peer support
counseling session conducted by a law enforcement agency or by
an emergency services provider for an adverse employment action
against the participant.

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Section 25. Judicial proceedings.
(a) Any oral communication or written information made or
conveyed by a participant or counselor in a peer support
session, including an employee assistance program, is not
admissible in any judicial proceeding, arbitration proceeding,
or other adjudicatory proceeding, except to the extent
necessary in an action described in subsection (f) of Section
20 or if related to information obtained under subsection (d)
of Section 20.
(b) Nothing in this Section limits the discovery or
introduction into evidence, knowledge acquired by any public
safety personnel or emergency services personnel from
observations made during the course of employment or material
or information acquired during the course of employment that is
otherwise subject to discovery in evidence.
Section 110. The Department of State Police Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding
Section 2605-99 as follows:
(20 ILCS 2605/2605-99 new)
Sec. 2605-99. Training; suicide prevention. The
Department, in consultation with a statewide association that
represents public pension funds under Article 3 and Article 4
of the Illinois Pension Code, shall conduct or approve a 2-day
in-service training program for State Police officers in

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job-related stress management and suicide prevention. The
in-service training program shall train State Police officers
to recognize signs of work-related cumulative stress and other
related issues that may lead to suicide and offer appropriate
solutions for intervention. This in-service training program
shall be completed every 2 years by each State Police officer.
The Department shall establish the training program on or
before January 1, 2020.
Section 115. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by
changing Section 7 and by adding Section 10.17-2 as follows:
(50 ILCS 705/7) (from Ch. 85, par. 507)
Sec. 7. Rules and standards for schools. The Board shall
adopt rules and minimum standards for such schools which shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
a. The curriculum for probationary police officers
which shall be offered by all certified schools shall
include, but not be limited to, courses of procedural
justice, arrest and use and control tactics, search and
seizure, including temporary questioning, civil rights,
human rights, human relations, cultural competency,
including implicit bias and racial and ethnic sensitivity,
criminal law, law of criminal procedure, constitutional
and proper use of law enforcement authority, vehicle and
traffic law including uniform and non-discriminatory

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enforcement of the Illinois Vehicle Code, traffic control
and accident investigation, techniques of obtaining
physical evidence, court testimonies, statements, reports,
firearms training, training in the use of electronic
control devices, including the psychological and
physiological effects of the use of those devices on
humans, first-aid (including cardiopulmonary
resuscitation), training in the administration of opioid
antagonists as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (e)
of Section 5-23 of the Substance Use Disorder Act, handling
of juvenile offenders, recognition of mental conditions
and crises, including, but not limited to, the disease of
addiction, which require immediate assistance and response
and methods to safeguard and provide assistance to a person
in need of mental treatment, recognition of abuse, neglect,
financial exploitation, and self-neglect of adults with
disabilities and older adults, as defined in Section 2 of
the Adult Protective Services Act, crimes against the
elderly, law of evidence, the hazards of high-speed police
vehicle chases with an emphasis on alternatives to the
high-speed chase, and physical training. The curriculum
shall include specific training in techniques for
immediate response to and investigation of cases of
domestic violence and of sexual assault of adults and
children, including cultural perceptions and common myths
of sexual assault and sexual abuse as well as interview

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techniques that are age sensitive and are trauma informed,
victim centered, and victim sensitive. The curriculum
shall include training in techniques designed to promote
effective communication at the initial contact with crime
victims and ways to comprehensively explain to victims and
witnesses their rights under the Rights of Crime Victims
and Witnesses Act and the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
The curriculum shall also include training in effective
recognition of and responses to stress, trauma, and
post-traumatic stress experienced by police officers. The
curriculum shall also include a block of instruction aimed
at identifying and interacting with persons with autism and
other developmental or physical disabilities, reducing
barriers to reporting crimes against persons with autism,
and addressing the unique challenges presented by cases
involving victims or witnesses with autism and other
developmental disabilities. The curriculum for permanent
police officers shall include, but not be limited to: (1)
refresher and in-service training in any of the courses
listed above in this subparagraph, (2) advanced courses in
any of the subjects listed above in this subparagraph, (3)
training for supervisory personnel, and (4) specialized
training in subjects and fields to be selected by the
board. The training in the use of electronic control
devices shall be conducted for probationary police
officers, including University police officers.

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b. Minimum courses of study, attendance requirements
and equipment requirements.
c. Minimum requirements for instructors.
d. Minimum basic training requirements, which a
probationary police officer must satisfactorily complete
before being eligible for permanent employment as a local
law enforcement officer for a participating local
governmental agency. Those requirements shall include
training in first aid (including cardiopulmonary
resuscitation).
e. Minimum basic training requirements, which a
probationary county corrections officer must
satisfactorily complete before being eligible for
permanent employment as a county corrections officer for a
participating local governmental agency.
f. Minimum basic training requirements which a
probationary court security officer must satisfactorily
complete before being eligible for permanent employment as
a court security officer for a participating local
governmental agency. The Board shall establish those
training requirements which it considers appropriate for
court security officers and shall certify schools to
conduct that training.
A person hired to serve as a court security officer
must obtain from the Board a certificate (i) attesting to
his or her successful completion of the training course;

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(ii) attesting to his or her satisfactory completion of a
training program of similar content and number of hours
that has been found acceptable by the Board under the
provisions of this Act; or (iii) attesting to the Board's
determination that the training course is unnecessary
because of the person's extensive prior law enforcement
experience.
Individuals who currently serve as court security
officers shall be deemed qualified to continue to serve in
that capacity so long as they are certified as provided by
this Act within 24 months of June 1, 1997 (the effective
date of Public Act 89-685). Failure to be so certified,
absent a waiver from the Board, shall cause the officer to
forfeit his or her position.
All individuals hired as court security officers on or
after June 1, 1997 (the effective date of Public Act
89-685) shall be certified within 12 months of the date of
their hire, unless a waiver has been obtained by the Board,
or they shall forfeit their positions.
The Sheriff's Merit Commission, if one exists, or the
Sheriff's Office if there is no Sheriff's Merit Commission,
shall maintain a list of all individuals who have filed
applications to become court security officers and who meet
the eligibility requirements established under this Act.
Either the Sheriff's Merit Commission, or the Sheriff's
Office if no Sheriff's Merit Commission exists, shall

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establish a schedule of reasonable intervals for
verification of the applicants' qualifications under this
Act and as established by the Board.
g. Minimum in-service training requirements, which a
police officer must satisfactorily complete every 3 years.
Those requirements shall include constitutional and proper
use of law enforcement authority, procedural justice,
civil rights, human rights, mental health awareness and
response, officer wellness, and cultural competency.
h. Minimum in-service training requirements, which a
police officer must satisfactorily complete at least
annually. Those requirements shall include law updates and
use of force training which shall include scenario based
training, or similar training approved by the Board.
(Source: P.A. 99-352, eff. 1-1-16; 99-480, eff. 9-9-15; 99-642,
eff. 7-28-16; 99-801, eff. 1-1-17; 100-121, eff. 1-1-18;
100-247, eff. 1-1-18; 100-759, eff. 1-1-19; 100-863, eff.
8-14-18; 100-910, eff. 1-1-19; revised 9-28-19.)
(50 ILCS 705/10.17-2 new)
Sec. 10.17-2. Training; suicide prevention. The Board, in
consultation with a statewide association that represents
public pension funds under Article 3 and Article 4 of the
Illinois Pension Code, shall conduct or approve an in-service
training program for law enforcement officers in job-related
stress management and suicide prevention. The in-service

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training program shall train law enforcement officers of local
government agencies to recognize signs of work-related
cumulative stress and other related issues that may lead to
suicide and offer appropriate solutions for intervention. This
in-service training program shall be completed every 3 years by
each local law enforcement officer. The Board shall establish
the training program on or before January 1, 2020.
Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.".