A recent incident in St. Clair County has rekindled efforts to pass legislation aimed at protecting DCFS and Adult Protective Services workers. Last week, a Bellville resident disarmed and fired an officer’s gun during an investigation, though no injuries were reported. This has prompted House Minority Leader Tony McCombie to push for her 2018 bill, inspired by the tragic deaths of DCFS workers Pam Knight and Deidre Silas, to become law. The proposed “Knight-Silas Act” would mandate a three-year minimum sentence for attacks on these workers, paralleling penalties for assaults on teachers and firefighters, despite previous opposition.
In 2017, DFCS worker Pam Knight of Dixon was beaten while trying to take a 2-year-old boy into protective custody in Milledgeville.
Since Knight was killed, a second DCFS worker, Deidre Silas of Springfield, was stabbed 43 times and beaten to death with a sledgehammer when she was called to a home in Thayer to investigate a report against the parents of two children living in the home.
