South Cook News

Republican candidate for Illinois' 6th Congressional District Keith Pekau is warning voters that it could soon be the norm for charged defendants to continue to commit crimes instead of being housed in jail because of laws in the so-called SAFE-T Act. 

Pekau's comments come after Orland Park Police announced in a Facebook post that a man with a lengthy criminal history who was wanted by the department had been taken into custody.

"83 arrests and 47 convictions. Out on electronic monitoring by a Cook County judge," Pekau, who also serves as Orland Park Mayor, wrote in a September 24 Facebook post. "Wait until the SAFE T Act makes that mandatory for judges statewide. The priority of the government should be to keep law abiding citizens safe not to give criminals a free pass. Repeal the SAFE T Act now!"

In the post, Orland Park Police said Dwayne Buchanan, 41, was arrested by Chicago Police on September 20 on a warrant out of Orland Park for felony retail theft. The department added a judge gave Buchanan an I-Bond and he was placed under electronic monitoring. 

As of January when a portion of the SAFE-T Act took effect, criminal defendants awaiting trial on house arrest are now allowed to move freely two days each week without electronic monitoring, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The goal of the "essential movement" days was to give charged defendants an opportunity to find jobs, go to school, receive treatment for substance abuse or mental illness, or run errands. Authorities noted that in the first three months of the year about 24 people in Cook County alone were arrested during those days free from electronic monitoring.

According to NBC 5 Chicago, the Cook County Sheriff's office had found contraband at 60 of the 69 homes searched in the first five months of the year during what's known as a compliance check search at residences of defendants on electronic monitoring. Deputies noted that during the searches a total of 84 gas were seized from 39 homes.