West Cook News

House Minority Leader Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Spring) points to a recent West Side gang shooting as proof of how changes need to be made in the process of investigating and prosecuting crimes 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 an Oct. 18 news conference regarding a new House bill filed with the goal of aiding local police departments. “No charges, one dead, 70 shell casings. And also we know that carjacking has taken over Chicago and suburbs and has seen an approximate 50% increase in Cook County over the last year-and-a-half. That shows you the 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 3,000,000 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.

It further outlines 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 said. “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 found 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.

More specifically, statistics show over the last three years Foxx’s office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, compared to a rate by Alvarez of just 19.4% during the final three years of her tenure. 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 said 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.”