Sangamon Sun

Gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan released his Safe Streets plan on Tuesday as part of his campaign for governor of Illinois. 

Under Sullivan's plan, policies will focus on making streets safer by fully staffing and supporting state and local police officers while also dedicating to harsher penalties for assaulting law enforcement personnel. Sullivan also aims to appoint an anti-violence director who will report directly to the governor and strengthen ties between lawmakers and law enforcement. 

"The Pritzker agenda has left too many parts of Illinois looking like a war zone," Sullivan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. "These policies are literally killing us. I'm the only candidate in this race with a plan to stop the crime epidemic on our streets, and I'm ready to get going on day one. Join me, and let's save Illinois. Learn more about our "Safe Streets" Plan www.jessesullivan.com/safe."

To make communities safe across Illinois, Sullivan aims to fill officer vacancies statewide, use the National Guard and Illinois State Police when needed, maintain cash bail for violent offenders, and reverse restraints on pretrial or preventive detention by utilizing models used by the Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigations Team (MERIT) in DuPage County, according to Sullivan's plan. 

"I refuse to accept the false choice between supporting law enforcement and supporting minority communities," Sullivan said in a Facebook post, including a video of one of his rallies. "I choose to support both. Promoting public safety is about protecting innocent life, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or zip code.#SaveIL."

Sullivan is a fifth-generation Illinois resident who has lived in Petersburg his entire life. Prior to his run for governor, he served as special assistant to the Haitian ambassador after the 2010 earthquake and as a human terrain team analyst on counterinsurgency operations in Helmand, Afghanistan. Sullivan is also the founder of Alter Global, a venture capital firm that finds and scales companies in emerging economies, according to his official website.