NW Illinois News

State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Sterling) is shepherding legislation through the General Assembly designed to better protect Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) workers.

“This is not the first time, the second time, the third time, or even the fourth time I have sat at this podium and talked about this issue,” McCombie said during a Feb. 15 news conference regarding legislation filed to better protect DCFS workers. "We've been doing this, I’ve been doing this since Pam Knight was brutally beaten and murdered in my district. We are long overdue to actually bring forth legislation that is going to hopefully protect our DCFS caseworkers who are putting their lives at risk to serve our most vulnerable families.”

With two DCFS investigators having been killed on the job in the state over the last 48 months, McCombie is backing legislation co-sponsored by state Sens. Sally Turner (R-Beason) and Steve McClure (R-Jacksonville) that would allow DCFS workers to carry pepper spray on the job. Senate Bill 4165 would also require Illinois State Police to develop a training program for the DCFS staff.

“We were just talking about some of these on the way down,” McCombie said. “DCFS has a bill that has been brought forward for them to activate their law enforcement capabilities. I have a bill for DCFS caseworkers to allow for them to conceal carry. It’s a pretty big bill and I'm not sure if it's even something that they want, but we have to give them something to, have a tool, for when they're out knocking on these doors protecting us. Whether it's a different radio system, I think that's something that we can learn from our local law enforcement now.”

“There's been a lot of talk about this since the brutal beating in the murder of Pam but there's been very few corrective actions actually put in place,” McCombie said. “Supporting our DCFS workers does not just mean attending their funerals, it means doing everything within our power to make sure those funerals never happen in the first place. Governments’ number one goal is to protect Illinoisans and this administration is failing on many levels. DCFS workers are walking into emotional and volatile situations and they must have support.”

In 2017, DCFS staffer Knight was severely beaten when she was visiting a Midgeville home to take a 2-year-old girl into protective custody. Knight died from her injuries after several months in a coma. Andrew Sucher was charged in the case and eventually signed a plea deal for 21 years in jail with no parole.

According to WQAD, Sucher is now seeking clemency, with Knight’s husband, Don, pushing the governor to deny the request.

McCombie is also heading up a group of seven bi-partisan legislators supporting Knight’s request.

“No I don't think he deserves mercy,” she said. “He showed no mercy with Pam.”

Don Knight argues current laws do not go far enough in assuring that DCFS social workers are protected.

“What I want to know is what was his reason for wanting to get out,” he said. “Bottom line for the family is 21 years isn't long enough and there’s no way he should get out any earlier than that.”

McCombie has also reintroduced a bill in the House that would increase protections for DCFS workers by increasing the sentence for assaulting a worker on the job to ten years, while also making the punishment the same as that administered for an attack on a police officer, firefighter or teacher. The measure previously passed the House in 2019, but ultimately stalled in the Senate.

“We don't want people to murder those who are put on the front lines to protect our most vulnerable,” McCombie said. “They need to be punished for that, absolutely need to be punished for that. It’s Pam’s bill, that is a call to protect those who are serving those most vulnerable children and families.”

In January, 36-year-old Diedre Silas was stabbed to death while performing a home visit at a resident in Thayer.

Officers from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said they arrived at the home to find Silas dead inside with six young children around, none of whom witnessed the attack.

While Barrie Graham told CBS Chicago her daughter loved the work she did, her father, Roy, said he doesn’t believe his daughter is receiving the kind of honors bestowed on other public servants who die in the line of duty.

Police have since charged 32-year-old Benjamin Reed with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.