For now, Mayor Brandon Johnson is using $31 million from the final chunk of federal stimulus funding delivered to Chicago during the pandemic to check another key item off his progressive to-do list. After that, the mayor is counting on revenue from his controversial social media tax — and he’s assuming the innovative source of revenue not only survives an ongoing court challenge, but continues to grow so the program — confined for now to daytime hours on weekdays — can expand.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said she was alarmed by the data: “We should all be deeply concerned that hundreds of defendants placed on EM are unaccounted for. This creates the potential for more violence, more victims, more fear and heartache in our community.”

Facial recognition is a built-in feature of BriefCam, but the sheriff’s spokesperson said the office doesn’t plan to connect the technology to any biometric database. Illinois law requires companies collecting biometric data to provide written notice, obtain written consent and develop a publicly available retention and destruction policy.

“Over the last decade, we have seen the rise of a new kind of prosecutor: the so-called progressive prosecutor. They run on platforms promising to decarcerate, go soft on so-called ‘low-level’ offenses and ‘reimagine’ prosecution. … Young people are not stupid. They are watching. They see viral videos of mobs overrunning downtowns and hear that “no serious charges will be filed.” They see repeat juvenile offenders picked up for robberies, carjackings or violent attacks and then released right back onto the street.”

“In the latest Chicago Teachers Union contract, we won $10 million of investment in solar installations, this school year alone, that will improve the health of surrounding communities, create good trades jobs and improve schools for the students who attend them. That can be a model for how larger development moves forward in our state, not an outlier.”