(WAND) - On Monday night, police from across central Illinois gathered to brainstorm better ways to protect officers and keep criminals off the street. 

Amber Oberheim, widow of fallen officer Chris Oberheim, hosted the Law Enforcement Roundtable discussion. She said her number one goal is safety for officers.

"I don't want anybody to have to deal with the same reality that my girls and I have. That's just not OK," Oberheim explained.

She believes part of the solution is harsher penalties for those who attack and kill officers.

"If you're going to to make a decision to commit a heinous crime, then you need to be held accountable for that decision, and the consequence needs to match the offense," Oberheim added.

She has been attending court hearings to raise awareness and advocate for police.

"We're showing up in places like sentencing hearings for people who are shooting at officers, or unfortunately murdering officers, because there has to be someone to hold those people, who make the decisions, accountable," Oberheim told WAND News.

Active and retired police officers also weighed in with their concerns.

"We want criminals held accountable. That's all we've ever wanted," Sangamon County Jack Campbell said.

Campbell believes there are issues in the courtroom that are actually empowering criminals because of new state reform about bail and sentencing.

"They don't pay attention to the politics, but what does pass down the line very quickly is, hey, you're going to get out of here very quickly anyway. Don't worry about it, you're either going to get off, you're going to not post cash bail or you're going to get out," Campbell explained.

The event was also co-hosted by Jesse Reising at the Decatur Club. Reising is a Republican candidate for Illinois' 13th Congressional District. He hopes to defend Illinois police on Capitol Hill.

"Stand up against this hateful defund the police rhetoric. And also we have things at the state level, like the SAFE-T act in Illinois, which is really an anti-police bill. We need to hold accountable those state legislators that are voting for these destructive policies," Reising told WAND News.

Reising is running against Regan Deering, Matt Hausman and Terry Martin in the Republican primary this June.

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