South Cook News

Sean Morrison, Cook County Commissioner and Cook County GOP Chairman, recently shared Chicago's crime statistics and said work needs to be done to address the rampant crime in Cook County. Illinois Republicans have been critical of a 'criminal justice reform bill that was passed last year, arguing that it's soft on criminals. 

As of May 29, there had been 232 murders, 952 shooting incidents, 826 criminal sexual assaults, 3,158 robberies, 2,167 aggravated batteries, 2,810 burglaries, 6,577 thefts, and 5,128 motor vehicle thefts reported this year, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

"Now let’s expand discussion towards these horrid stats & identify causes and the solutions to curbing it," Morrison wrote in a May 31 Twitter post. "I will start, End reduced charges, increased bail amounts, NO electronic monitoring for violent offenders. Prosecute low-level crime as well."

A bill aimed at reforming Illinois' criminal justice system was passed in the early hours of Jan. 13, 2021, Capitol News Illinois reported. Supporters of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, including the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, point to the legislation as a step toward making the justice system more equitable for minorities. 

Republicans, on the other hand, have called the SAFE-T Act a “de facto defund the police bill" because of the additional regulations it places on police officers. The SAFE-T will eliminate cash bail in Illinois, effective Jan. 1, 2023, which critics claim will lead to more criminals out on the streets.

One provision of the SAFE-T Act that took effect in January of this year allows criminal defendants who are awaiting trial on home confinement to move freely, without electronic monitoring, two days a week, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The defendants are supposed to use that time to look for employment, attend school, undergo treatment for drug addiction or mental illness, or grocery shop. However, in the first three months of 2022, roughly two dozen people were arrested in Cook County during their "essential movement" days.

Democrat Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has called for an end to the "essential movement" provision, stating, “At a bare minimum, they should say, ‘If you’re charged with a violent offense, and you’re given home monitoring, you don’t get to wander around free for two days a week.'"

More than 50 people were shot over the holiday weekend in Chicago, 9 of whom were killed, NBC reported. Four shooting victims were wounded in the downtown area, while around half of the victims sustained their injuries on the city's West Side. Over Memorial Day weekend 2021, 37 people were shot, 3 of whom were killed.