Will Concealed-Carry Law Affect How Police Do Their Jobs?

OK, concealed carry is going to be the law. We know that.

We also know that there's a 10-day window for home-rule communities to enact their own version of an assault weapons ban. That short time period is going to make action unlikely in Batavia and St. Charles—and impossible in Geneva, which doesn't have the 25,000 population to become home rule.

And we know that permits for concealed-carry use probably won't be issued until 2014. Illinois State Police officials have 180 days to establish an application process, and about 90 more to screen the first applicants, St. Charles Police Chief Jim Lamkin said.

What we don't know is how the new law will affect local law enforcement in Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles. How does the prospect of armed civilians alter how a police officer does his or her job on the street? ... Or does it?

Cmdr. Julie Nash of the Geneva Police Department says officers will have a heightened awareness, but the new law doesn't affect the way they approach a given situation.

"Officers are very well trained at the academy, within our Field Training Program, and throughout their careers to work under the assumption that all subjects could be armed or could present some physical danger to themselves or others," she said. "This assumption does not change (under the new law.) Officers will remain prepared and continue to anticipate that any citizen could present some physical danger to themselves or others, not limited to a firearm, at any time."

The use of deadly force is rare in the Tri-Cities, but as recently as Monday of this week, a Kane County Sheriff's Office sergeant was forced to shoot a rural Batavia man who was on his roof with a rifle when the man pointed the weapon at deputies, according to a Sheriff's Office press release. The man, Luke Bulzak, 52, later died at Mercy Medical Center.

But that scenario did not involve a hidden weapon, and concealed-carry legislation in and of itself "does not mean that all citizens are dangerous," Nash said.

"Rather, officers have to be prepared and in the mindset that they could present a danger," she said. "Therefore, with citizens now having the lawful authority to carry a concealed weapon, this new law should not change the mindset and preparation of the officers."

St. Charles Police Chief Lamkin said the new law will require applicants to take some sort of training in order to be eligible for the concealed-carry permit. The law spells out the basics of what that training will require, Lamkin said, but State Police will have to figure out what that curriculum will be.

While state officials are grappling with the details of implementing the law, Nash said officers here are ready to enforce it.

"This law will only cause officers to be more prepared in anticipating possible dangers throughout any given situation," she said.

Read More on Patch

• Local Lawmakers Help Override Veto of Concealed Carry Bill
• Concealed Carry Not Yet Law, State Police Warn
• Coroner Identifies Man Shot, Killed By Sheriff's Office Sergeant
• Sheriff: Hold Off on 'Armchair Quarterbacking' Until Shooting Investigation Is Complete