Will County Gazette

House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Spring) argues all the evidence is in when it comes to how badly change to the system is needed in the way crimes are investigated and prosecuted in Cook County.

“We saw first-hand on video the public feud between the Chicago Police Department and the state's attorney felony review division,” Durkin said during a recent news conference regarding a new House bill filed with the goal of aiding local police departments.

“No charges, one dead, 70 shell casings,” he said in addressing a recent gang shooting on the city’s West Side. “And also we know that carjacking has taken over Chicago and the suburbs and has seen an approximate 50% increase in Cook County over the last year-and-a-half. That shows you that crime is increasing and it is getting worse and we have a state's attorney that is looking the other direction.”

As one of the chief sponsors, Durkin is hoping HB 4176 will help change that. The bill seeks to amend the Counties Code to stipulate that in a criminal investigation in counties in excess of 3 million people, a law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of the alleged crime would have the authority to override a state’s attorney’s decision not to file felony charges or designate the case as a continuing investigation if the evidence supporting such a course of action is clear and convincing and the case is filed with the clerk of the circuit court.

In addition, it seeks to establish if the court determines that a law enforcement agency's decision to override is based on sound reasoning, the state's attorney must proceed with a preliminary examination or seek an indictment by grand jury within 30 days from the date the suspect was taken into custody.

“A safe society requires cooperation between our police and the prosecuting attorney to make sure cases are being appropriately charged and that local laws are being followed,” Durkin added. “In Cook County, law enforcement, including the Chicago Police Department and Cook County Sheriff, local police departments are responsible for investigating crimes in their jurisdictions and in the case of most felonies, those investigating agencies, those police departments must seek approval of felony charges through the Cook County State's Attorney felony review division.”

A recent Chicago Tribune analysis also details that the number of felony cases charged under Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx have dropped since she replaced former State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, including for such serious offenses as murder, attacks on police officers and sex crimes.

Under Foxx over the last three years, statistics show her office dropped all charges against nearly three out of every 10 felony defendants, compared to a rate of less than two out of 10 during Alvarez’s last three years in power. Overall, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694 for a similar period under Alvarez.

“The problem that we see is real and has resulted in hardened criminals and bad actors avoiding responsibility for the crimes ultimately making our streets less safe,” Durkin said. “I recently met with a great many of police chiefs from the suburban area who expressed profound frustration with what they have seen play out from the Cook County State's Attorney office over the past few years. State's Attorney Foxx has lost the confidence publicly and privately of police chiefs and the rank-and-file officers of this county.”

Foxx was swept into office on a reform-minded platform that included a pledge to reduce the population of Cook County Jail. While not disputing many of the findings uncovered in the Tribune report, Foxx insists the numbers give an incomplete picture of her commitment to keeping the public safe.

“It is always eye-opening to be able to look at our own data and compare it to my predecessor’s past,” she said. “I can’t reconcile what her decision-making was, and how they chose to (dismiss) cases in the past. But I will say that this administration has been clear that our focus would be on violent crime and making sure that our resources and attention would go to addressing violent crime.”