Investigators with the Department of Children and Family Services would be allowed to carry mace or pepper spray on home visits, under legislation being proposed by several area lawmakers.
Republican State Senator Steve McClure of Springfield is the chief sponsor of the bill, which follows the deaths of two DCFS workers on home visits in recent years… including last month’s murder of Deidre Silas at a home in Thayer. McClure says being able to carry personal protection might have prevented those violent deaths.
The legislation would require workers to undergo training from Illinois State Police in the proper use of pepper spray.
