In November of 2007 Former Illinois State Trooper Matthew Mitchell decided to make a series of poor decisions while on-duty. As a law enforcement officer, Mitchell swore to protect and serve the citizens of Illinois. On that fateful day in 2007 he violated that oath and more importantly the trust of not only the citizens of Illinois but the law enforcement profession across this great nation. Mitchell CHOOSE to drive his marked police car at over 125 mph while talking on a radio and cell phone, and seconds before the crash was typing e-mails to other troopers that were not work related. His poor decisions not only killed 18 year old Jessica Uhl and her 13 year old sister Kelli, but also injured others in a separate vehicle. The most disturbing thing in the case is this was not his first major crash. He showed a pattern of endangering your citizens during his whole career as a trooper.

To this day Mitchell has never attempted to offer a true apology to Jessica and Kelli’s family but he has never publically taken responsibility for their deaths.

Mitchell was let off the hook with relatively little punishment (no jail time) and he needs to have a constant reminder of the impact he has had on many people. His attorney recently made statements that Mitchell just needs to get on with his life. Why should he be afforded the opportunity to live a normal life when the family will have to live with pain for the rest of theirs?

Please take this petition into account when making a decision. You will see that the names on the petition are just not citizens from Illinois, but from citizens and public safety officials from all over the country. Do what is right and deny Matthew Mitchell the opportunity to ever endanger the good people of Illinois again.