By: Matt Rosenberg
It’s popular in Chicago to call for hiring more police or to suggest, as we have at Wirepoints, that more of the city’s existing officers be assigned to district-level patrol duties. But to focus only on police force strength, deployment or accountability – and ignore prosecutions and sentencing – is to settle for rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic.
Our courts are broken. Too many who are granted leniency are later charged with new crimes including murder, attempted murder, criminal sexual assault, carjacking, and robbery. The system is a revolving door.
Don’t count on relief until Chicago elected officials, community leaders, and media demand that Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx stop the door from spinning.
Felony offenders on the loose pose deadly risks to the community
Chicago’s first murder of 2023 is still under investigation. Police said they were searching for a murder suspect with five prior felony convictions who was released from prison two years ago – after serving just half of his latest sentence – for an armed home invasion. He’s wanted in connection with the slaying of a security guard at a Chicago hookah lounge. The victim, 38-year-old Austin McAllister, was a black father of six, and an Iraq veteran. State authorities said the suspect wasn’t checking in with his parole officer and making his whereabouts known, as required.
CWB Chicago reported those important details. The Sun-Times’ cursory report on the suspect did not mention his prior criminal record or the justice system’s apparent failure to protect the public.
This was no isolated example.
A 19-year-old Chicago man now charged with first-degree murder of his roommate had a long string of juvenile offenses which should’ve sounded warning bells. Instead a young black woman is dead. The suspect had a pending charge of felony burglary and had been found responsible for four juvenile crimes: unlawful handgun possession, criminal trespass to a vehicle, deceptive practice, and retail theft.
He clearly already posed a risk to the community but no judge or prosecutor saw fit to hold him before trial thanks to the “bail reform” regime enforced by Chief Judge Evans. Now 21-year-old Trashah Wallace is gone after screaming loudly for help, suffering dozens of stab wounds and being left dead under a clothes pile between a bed and a wall. Some 700-plus commenters at a related Facebook post expressed their grief over her killing. But again, while the Sun-Times covered the alleged murder, it failed to report the suspect’s prior record. Previously and to its credit, the paper has included such details in other cases.
Why the shift?
In another case, before stabbing an acquaintance 30 times and nearly to death, a 19-year-old Chicago man was already out before adjudication on juvenile charges of robbery, battery and stolen vehicle possession. More recently he had racked up two new adult misdemeanor charges for aggravated assault on a school employee. Clearly a risk to community safety. And yet set free to wreak more damage. For the alleged stabbing he was charged with attempted murder in the first degree. The victim, whom the alleged offender knew, was clinically dead for a time but recovered and spent five days on a ventilator during a two-week hospitalization. Fox 32 reported on the stabbing and the suspect’s arrest but included nothing on his pending adult and juvenile charges.
When the prior criminal records of killers and other major crimes perpetrators become invisible, so do their victims.
Warning bells peal but no one hears
The light treatment of felony weapons charges is one more component of the dangerous judicial and prosecutorial laxity under the leadership of Chief Judge Evans and State’s Attorney Foxx. Again and again, the revolving door lets through felony weapons defendants and convicts who commit new and worse crimes after they’re set free before trial for earlier charges or after plea deals on the cheap. That has to change if Chicago is to take back its streets. Here are some recent examples.
In November 2020, a plea deal resulted in a sentence of probation for a 17-year-old who’d been charged with a felony gun offense after a traffic stop. 19 days later he unleashed a volley of gunfire at Chicago cops as they responded to reports of an unfolding gang shoot-out. They apprehended him without firing a single shot. In December, in another plea deal, he was sentenced to 12 years for aggravated discharge of a firearm at police officers.
Two pending juvenile felony weapons charges weren’t enough to keep another 17-year-old in detention before trial. After a Christmas 2022 domestic battery arrest during which he allegedly had a gun, police linked him to a West Side shooting scene involving that same weapon. The shooting victim can’t walk anymore. The suspect is now being held without bail for aggravated battery by discharging a firearm.
There are at least four major streams of traffic through Cook County’s revolving door:
- Pretrial defendants and repeat offenders who aren’t arrested for their latest crime. A defendant awaiting trial or out on probation or parole may commit a new crime but avoid arrest. No one knows how many instances of this occur, but it’s likely to be many because major crime arrest rates in Chicago were just 5% in 2022.
- Murder, attempted murder and shooting defendants out on bond before trial. CWB Chicago tracks newly-alleged murders, attempted murders, and shootings in Cook County that are charged to defendants already out on bond and awaiting trial for prior felonies. CWB sums up the 55 cases, 94 victims and 25 murders in 2022 resulting from the county’s handling of such defendants.
- Other defendants out before trial. There are new felonies charged to pretrial defendants out on bond for offenses other than murder, attempted murder, or shootings. These already-pending charges, which demonstrate community risk ignored by bond court judges and prosecutors, include sexual assault and attempted sexual assault; plus robbery – again and again and again and again; carjacking and attempted carjacking; battery; theft; and burglary.
- New defendants who were already on probation or parole. There are also new felonies charged to defendants who are not out on bond awaiting trial, but who are already on probation or parole for earlier felony convictions. Recent years have seen killings, allegedly by defendants already on probation for prior crimes, of an eight-year girl Latina, a black grandfather and veteran, and a Chicago cop.
The upshot: there’s a lot of more risky business in Cook County courts – with dire consequences – than most people suspect.
And on it goes. On March 1, one day after Chicago’s mayoral primary election, a man who’d earlier been let off of felony gun charges by Foxx’s office after being arrested running from a car used in a shooting, was identified as the alleged triggerman in the fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer. He was critically wounded and has not yet been charged. CWB Chicago reported the details.
Perhaps there were good grounds for the charges being dropped. But the Cook County system hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt. More the opposite. One of the other suspects in the earlier shooting involving the alleged cop killer, was hit with multiple charges including a weapons felony. Out on just $200 bail, he was charged three weeks later for robbery, CWB reported. That’s sadly familiar. In all of this, victims seem to matter least.
Understanding the dimensions of the problem is a necessary precursor to real change.
That turnabout will have to involve:
- rolling back Cook’s County 5-year botched experiment in bail reform;
- fighting to reverse large portions of the SAFE-T Act – the legislature’s proposed end of cash bail statewide;
- and mandating user-friendly online accountability reporting so the role of specific prosecutors and judges in injurious leniency will be crystal clear.
If public safety is really a priority of voters and Chicago’s next mayor there can be no more ignoring the trauma, injuries and deaths resulting from poor decisions by Cook County judges and prosecutors.
Note: this story has been updated to include background on an identified suspect in the March 1 fatal shooting of a Chicago Police officer.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- So much for Chicago transit’s ‘anti-crime’ initiatives. 2022’s violent crime exceeded 2019, despite 46% plunge in riders
- Chicagoans are shooting back – and it’s not going to stop until leaders lead
- Chicago’s pursuit of ‘criminal justice reform’ an utter failure: Windy City homicides top nation for 11th year in a row with crime still rising.
- Chicago, New Orleans were the nation’s murder capitals in 2022 – A Wirepoints survey of America’s 75 largest cities
- Never mind last year’s 41% crime spike in Chicago. It’s up again another 55% this year.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
This carnage will continue until there is a system in place in Cook County that holds people accountable for their actions.
Good piece on the dangerous revolving door plaguing Chicago’s criminal justice system. Criminal recidivism seems to be a growing problem in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles in particular, all major cities with corrupted and Progressive District Attorneys. Reform is needed; start with the DAs.
I am at a loss! Where is the accountability of our criminal justice system to keep us safe? If the police are liable for their mistakes in judgment, in a split second, why aren’t out States Attorney’s and Judges accountable?? If you are a victim of a lax criminal justice system, where is the justice?!
“My, my, my…what a mess.” Tommy Lee Jones. ~ The Fugitive. Where to start? Time to build more prisons. Lock ’em up. Throw away the key. We The People, all of us: black, white, hispanic, Asian are fed up with the murders, robberies, assaults and other endless crimes that are the direct result of horrible policy inflicted by the new age woke democrats. Old school democrats cared about law and order. Not this crew. Letting violent thugs roam free to inflict more lethal carnage is called: Equity. You can put a million cops out there but if they are not… Read more »
THE elephant in the room here is RACE. Tough On Crime is primarily a ‘white’ thing. Being Tough On Crime means – and let me be blunt – disproportionately arresting many, many more blacks and latinks. There’s no way to reduce crime without incarcerating and arresting more black and brown people, because, the majority of criminals in Chicago are black and latinks. Black and brown people, for the most part, don’t want to be arrested. They don’t want their community members arrested and incarcerated because the criminals happen to be their baby daddies, sons, nephews, fathers, caregivers, breadwinners, etc. Kim… Read more »
Just remember that blacks, like everybody else, want more cops on the streets. We paid lots of money early on to a top pollster, RealClear, who found that to be so in Chicago, and many other polls subsequently confirmed it.
Since 3/2/2023 when this article was published, we’ve lost a Chicago Police Professional by gunfire to a reportedly 18-year-old admitted gang member who was not prosecuted for a drive-by shooting in which he was involved months before. The Prosecutor dropped it. So! What good would it do to have more police arresting more criminals if the Prosecutors (a la woke Democrats) and a possible mayor (a Marxist woke; who wants Social Counselors to accompany police in altercations) will not hold people accountable for their actions? There is “good” and “evil” in the human condition. And “good” is losing to “evil”… Read more »
Sir you are always on point when discussing “the elephant in the room.” They all know and they don’t care. We need a change in voter mindset to create a wave that will scare and change politicians that care about nothing but votes. The sad thing about all of this is the belief that criminals rights are being violated so the system must be lenient when in reality the ones effected most by the revolving doors policies are people of color who often times fall victim to the scumbags being released. The numbers have proven that time and again.
It’s a sad reality of the world we live in that big news is usually bad news. This is, of course, an increasingly precarious time for Chicago. But I almost always find something hopeful in the clear, compelling writing of Matt Rosenberg. His writing, in addition, is balanced, accurate and objective. And, as I mentioned earlier, it seems hopeful, which certainly doesn’t mean pollyannaish. You have to love a city before you can call it out. Bottom line, Matt Rosenberg’s obvious love for Chicago makes me hopeful, too.
Mr. Rosenberg once again provides a factual and well-reasoned article. Policing is only part of the issue. Lenient prosecutors and judges perpetuate the cycle of violence. Until this is addressed and resolved, the number of officers on patrol or any amount of “police reform” will not matter. At what point will citizens resort to vigilante justice? If that happens, will the prosecutors and judges be as lenient? Will juries acquit?
This doesn’t get solved until people realize crime is a problem about criminals…. not police.
As Hale said eloquently, the frankly scary environment in almost every neighborhood affects our state of mind.
Just yesterday, a friend of mine from Miami meeting his family coming in from SF for a few days, they’re not meeting downtown but rented a big house from AirBnB in…Westmont! I told him there’s the BNFS Metra station right there, take that into the city, do not take the subway, and get outta there before nightfall, unfortunately.
I couldn’t agree more with this, Matt. Complaining & condemning Foxx & Evans for the revolving door of criminals is 100% justified… But never forget that, even with established track records, both were re-elected. So am I fearful that self-proclaimed socialist Brandon Johnson may win the run-off? Absolutely. I hope & pray that those who support Vallas do not get complacent & somehow assume he will win. Voting still matters. Take your anger to your ballot.
Unfortunately it’s up to the voters and they chose to re-elect Foxx.
Officer Vasquez lost his life yesterday, and his little daughter will grow up without her father. Everyone who voted for Foxx has blood on their hands.
“I’m making 80 US dollars for every hr.” that Chicago is still in this mess. Or I would if I could find an algorithm tied to the incompetence of Timothy Evans, well-intentioned as he might be, that has led to human misery and carnage to skyrocket through the roof.
This has to end. Or at the very least start reversing. There is a way…
Amen
Keep on digging on this issue. There is more to the story.
Thank you so much for your thorough reporting Matt. It’s incredible that 102 of 104 state’s attorneys opposed the horrific SafeT act and voters did not listen. The problem is that these crimes impact those of us who voted wisely. It has to stop.
Serious question. What, exactly, does Kim Foxx do? What does her office’s staff do? They’re obviously not doing the jobs for which they are being paid…prosecuting crimes. So, what’s the point of them even being there? Criminals aren’t being arrested, and if they are, they’re being let go without punishment. Is a new mayor going to be able to right this ship of fools? Will they even try?
Great article! While Chicago has gotten rid of failed Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as the article points out with Foxx and Evans still in office and on the bench, little will change in Chicago. Sadly, a once great town is devolving into a third world hellhole.
Have to disagree a bit with you Russell. To most of the states’ residents Chicago has already attained the status of third world hell hole. But you are right that it continues to devolve even lower.
The problem is not with the police. The problem is with the prosecutors and judges. Illinois has clear laws regarding illegal handgun possession. If it is a first offense and the individual is not a previous felon this may be a Class A misdemeanor (up to a year in jail), most of these arrests are Class 3 felonies (5 to 10 years in jail). You need to set an example and make clear that if you illegally are holding a gun you are going to jail… hopefully for the max. Eventually people get the idea and they stop carrying illegal… Read more »
It’s difficult to stop the crime in this country when you have a pro criminal progressive mentality movement in Government that’ starts at the top of the Government, that uses this mentality and power to try’ to control this country. And destroy it.
For this lamentable situation to be reversed, Chicago’s next mayor needs to take an all hands on deck. Chef guy approach when dealing with criminals, the justice system, and the get out of jail, free card that apparently many offenders have pulled out. Anything less than this will not be successful.
Unfortunately, the editing of my original comments looked correct after I saved it, but when I came back now to see what else is going on here, I see that it reverted to the original. So here is the edited version:
“Chicago needs to take in all hands on deck, tough guy approach when dealing with criminals.”
Public safety will improve with greater accountability, stronger deterrence and stricter penalties and sentences. Next resignation needs to come from Kim Foxx.
Tough one to call but just like in Hobbs, they went to Supreme Court justices homes. Is it not bad enough yet to go and do a 24 hour around the clock protest with Foxx and Evans? Have we not reached that point where our side can do the same as theirs? How worse does it need it to get? No media coverage, no journalism seeking the truth, all completely one-sided, 100% propaganda ministry. Brandon Johnson didn’t wait 5 minutes until he started his idiotic racist attacks to a guy who is Greek Orthodox and has city public servants in… Read more »
When they get serious about restoring the two parent traditional family, we will see crime go down.
Getting a new mayor is a first, very minor, step. We have to start holding people accountable for their actions and not cave to every cry of ‘poor me.’
Not sure about a “very minor” step. Chicago needs a strong, professional acting Mayor. Strength and competence are the only things that will allow Chicago to escape from the clutches of the so-called Progressives that have made living here almost untenable for all but the criminals and other parasites.
If the next mayor wants to do something about crime he needs to establish a plan to get Kimmie and Timmy in the unemployment line. A daily press briefing on the judicial and prosecutorial outrage of the day would be a good start. Name the people involved.
Some of the defendants are deeply disturbed and dangerous to the community. They must be removed from the streets for public safety.
Couple things: First, thank you, Matt, for holding the media to account in this town for not giving a full and accurate account regarding defendants’ priors. It’s amazing that they cover for Kim Foxx in such an intellectually dishonest way. Second, I’ve worked in the Illinois justice system since 1992. The level to which we have fallen is almost unimaginable from the early ‘90s. The latest police officer killed by someone who was let off of more serious charges last summer is the norm now, and that’s on the folks at 26th and California. If Chicago citizens really want to… Read more »
until the Dem run states get rid of the Soros funded ‘restorative justice’ (releasing young criminals) program all you are doing is setting up more police to fail.
Period.
I wonder how Mayoral candidate Johnson’s ” send social workers plan”, would have worked out yesterday?
Domestic disputes are definatively, mental health calls, at least the officers had the option of returning fire yesterday. I fear there would have been three deceased social workers, with no one in custody.
R.I.P. to the deceased hero officer, condolances to the family, and the entire CPD.
Right on the mark! Too bad we don’t have an Attorney General like Missouri’s! Kwame is in the same bed as Foxx so she’s safe!
Naled the issue spot on.
Until Crook County gets serious about prosecuting criminal the daily carnage will continue
What a sad state of affairs. Protecting life and property is the top job of city officials. They have failed miserably. This will never change unless the voters are willing to change their ideology.
Now that Lightfoot is out let’s hope the next mayor promotes tough-on-crime prosecutors and judges otherwise Chicago will still be in the same mess. No cop wants to work for a city that does not have his or her back. So let’s hope Chicago votes for a tough mayor, not lightfoot #2.
Why would anyone in the police department risk their life knowing the city won’t support them? The cop is the bad guy and will probably have to stand trial for defending himself and stopping the bad guy from killing anyone. Where is the incentive to get in the middle and save a life? Why risk it for the system as it is? It’s not what they signed up for. The new Democrat mayor, whoever, WILL NOT FIX IT. Pritzker, governor of a Blue state, won’t allow it. Think Eric Adams, his campaign promises and what he’s really doing now.
You are absolutely correct that the decisions made by judges and prosecutors need to be publicized so that the public could see what is going on. As this is public information it should be relatively easy to highlight the egregious decisions that judges and prosecutors make. Embarrassing them may be the only way to change their behavior.
This is all true. It’s going to take a multi-faceted approach to effect significant change. More cops is a good start to that.
As I watched and heard the story yesterday of an officer being shot I stopped in my tracks. When I heard and saw where it took place my heart sank. This hit home. In the background I could see part of the building where I attended grammar school. The flood gate of memories instantly opened. Walking to school, walking to friends homes, riding bikes with friends. Opening fire hydrants in the summer, playing various games in the street. My mom handing me money and saying run up to the bakery. It was safe, it was home. I was lucky enough… Read more »
Hispanic shooters and killers are picking up the pace in Chicago. 2023 current stats have homicides involving Hispanics at 22% of the total, blacks at 76% and all other races, ALL other races combined, at 2%. Maybe an open southern border does mean something.
Yes, this is a huge part of the continuing crime problems. A slap on the wrist just emboldens the criminals. Look only to the tragic loss of a police officer yesterday.
Over the past five decades I’ve employed scores of Mexican immigrants. Many couldn’t speak the language, most worked for $15-$20 ph and almost all of them had wives and children. They bought homes, put their kids into Chicago schools and lived in blue collar neighborhoods. But not once did I receive a call informing me of an arrest and-or detention affecting their work. Culture, nothing more, nothing less and a remarkable example of the opportunities afforded those willing to work hard, care for their families and become model citizens. Just Sayin !
Legal or illegal?
I favor the the Three Strike program, which would mandate a death sentence for anyone or everyone convicted of three violent crimes …. perpetrated against anyone. Put these animal’s down like the rabid dogs they are. The pandemic of violence perpetrated on innocent citizens affects tourism, shopping, dining and just a simple family stroll. Beyond the certainty of criminal recidivism, their freedom affects our very state of mind, our sense of ease and safety on a daily basis.
So what is the betting line between Vallas and Johnson today?
This is all part of the master Soros plan. It won’t stop until the pendulum swings the other way and there is an uprising by the other side. The Asian community in San Francisco came together to recall the rogue prosecutor that allowed their community to turn into a war zone. Meanwhile Chicagoans are too lazy or stupid to vote out Kim Foxx. The city is doomed until that happens.
Not lazy or…they are lazy and stupid!
CWBCHICAGO.COM has multiple stories of the catch and release program of the Cook County justice system. The Chicago police officer shot and killed yesterday was shot by an 18yr old who was not charged in a drive by shooting a short time ago. States Attorneys office refused felony charges on this individual and now a young police officer is dead. Restorative Justice does not work.
Our story updated accordingly. Thanks for the tip.
Neither one going to happen. There will be less cops and fewer prosecutions. This is the trend in the Chitty and is not going to change. The other trend is taxes will go higher and services will go lower. So, get used to it or exit is the only choice you have.
Good point. For those that must stay connected to the Chicago area, you have Wisconsin and Indiana as excellent choices provided you do your homework. As a backup plan leaving Cook County and moving to a collar county may be an option. I say “may be an option and hold my breath”, because Illinois’ financial difficulties and malfeasance will end up being put directly on the state taxpayer. That more than likely means, no one will be spared. 😢😢 Very sad but with so many people leaving taxes are going sky high. All the way down to Metropolis and Cairo… Read more »
Finally, some common sense.