Public Safety

There were more than 2,000 human trafficking victims in Illinois from 2019 to 2023, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. By one tally, nearly one-third of those victims live in Central Illinois.

81 Illinois teen drivers and passengers died in car accidents in 2023, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Tragedies like these instantly change the lives of families and friends. For one mother — it led her to push for change.

A summary of issue positions held by incumbent council member Jenna Kearns and challenger Ben Zimmerman.

Bloomington Police dealt with two public violent incidents in February, and area law enforcement officials say those types of cases are part of what leads to recurring first responder trauma.

Meetings for the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council — a newly independent body that convenes area health and social service experts with government officials to discuss community behavioral health efforts in McLean County — are going private for the first time in the group’s history. Members say it should improve dialogue and get better results.

Ahead of the summer swimming season, the Bloomington-Normal YMCA and American Red Cross are promoting the importance of water safety for both children and adults.

The McLean County sheriff said the population of the county jail will likely fall after the SAFE-T Act goes into effect in September.

Shortages of nurses, McLean County jail workers, and police officers are well known. The looming national shortage of firefighters is less known, but no less significant. That is true in Bloomington-Normal, too.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he's open to tweaking the Safe-T Act that will do away with the cash bail system in the state starting in January. "The Safe-T Act is about keeping people safe all across our state, keeping murderers, rapists, and domestic abusers in jail, not letting them buy their way out, which is the system that we had," he said.

The Bloomington Fire Department is about six months into a new program using drones to help fight fires. Fire department spokesperson Eric Davison said officials already are seeing good results in structure fires and hazmat calls.