10/15/2025
Because Criminal Reform has worked so well!!! Time for political reform? New Puppets, Strings and Masters. Don’t get me wrong some changes are needed, however the pedalum has swung to the other side and the scale of justice still leans too far in the wrong direction.
Yes, it is broken!
We have seen amazing surveillance technology brought into the area. Maybe it’s time to see a show like live PD or something along those lines to expose what’s really going on in around our communities.  We have amazing law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels. What criminals used to do after midnight is now done live in front of Cameras at all times of the day. If most people really knew what was going on!
Is it time for the for the citizens of the Peoria area to really know what’s going on in and around where thier children live and play. What you see in the big cities on national news is probable worse per capita in our own back yards. We need healing in our land and that happens when criminals, politicians and enablers get their heads out of the sand and turn from thier wicked ways and ansewer for thier action or lack of. Corruption and Evil needs to be held to stronger and swifter accountability.
Humanity has to do thier part; then God will do His part.
“if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
Statement From the Office of the Chief of Police
On October 12, 2025, officers responded to a shooting in the 2300 block of W. Antoinette. A 22-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the head. During the investigation, three juveniles were hiding inside a nearby residence along with multiple fi****ms, including a stolen handgun. These juveniles do not live at that residence. They ran there after the shooting, attempted to evade police, and attempted to conceal their involvement.
What makes this even more troubling is that these juveniles are not first-time offenders. Between the three of them, they have been arrested 27 times over the last four to five years. These arrests include:
• Multiple gun-related charges
• Burglary of a motor vehicle
• Criminal trespass
• Domestic battery
• Aggravated battery of a police officer
• Vehicular hijacking
• Resisting and obstructing police
In mid-September, one of these juveniles was arrested for Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Possession of a Firearm, and Resisting and Obstructing Police. In that incident, the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) was forced to deny accepting the juvenile for detention. Due to current Illinois juvenile detention guidelines, he was released back into the community. Less than 30 days later, that same juvenile is involved in another case connected to illegal guns and violence.
In this most recent incident, the Juvenile Detention Center once again initially denied accepting these juveniles. Let me be clear: JDC does not make these decisions on its own. They are required to follow a state-mandated juvenile detention screening system that is failing our communities. This system is broken. It allows repeat violent juvenile offenders to avoid detention and return to the streets, even when they pose a clear threat to public safety.
This system must be examined, reformed, and rebuilt. It is not protecting our communities. It is not helping our youth, and it is absolutely not working!
I want to thank the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office for stepping in, challenging the
denial, and ensuring these juveniles were detained based on the severity of their actions and the threat they pose. Without their intervention, these offenders would have been released again.
The police do not decide whether someone is detained, how long they are held, or what
consequences they face. When people ask, “Why are they already back on the street?” the
answer is simple: Because the system releases them, not the police!
We share the same frustration as this community. Our officers are risking their lives arresting armed juvenile offenders. Many of these juveniles are repeatedly released with no meaningful consequences and no intervention services to prevent reoffending. That does not create rehabilitation. It creates more victims.
This is not just a police problem. This is a system problem, and it is a parenting problem.
When there is a lack of accountability, a lack of structure, and a lack of parental involvement, we will continue to see violent juvenile crime increase.
• Police are making arrests.
• Police are seizing guns.
• Police are responding to violent crime.
• Police are not being supported by a system that keeps violent offenders detained long
enough to protect the public or require mandatory intervention.
I fully support stronger laws that hold parents accountable when they knowingly allow their
children to carry guns, engage in violence, and terrorize neighborhoods. These juveniles are not raising themselves; someone is allowing it, and that someone must also be held
responsible.
The Peoria Police Department will continue doing our job. We will continue arresting violent
offenders, seizing illegal guns, and protecting this community. But we cannot and will not
continue being the only line of accountability!
The safety of Peoria is not negotiable.
• If you are a parent, be present, be responsible, be involved.
• If you are a legislator, we need your help to improve the juvenile justice system and
close the gaps that put our communities at risk.
• If you know something, say something. Silence protects violent offenders.
Eric Echevarria
Chief of Police
Peoria Police Department
