CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- There’s pushback Wednesday from Cook County’s top prosecutor and the head of the county court system to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown’s blaming the courts for the rise in violence in Chicago.
"What’s happening in the courts is creating this unsafe environment for all of us," said Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown on Tuesday, as he said the courts have been releasing people to the streets after being charged with violent crime, sparking even more violence.
“I hear a lot about what the State’s Attorney is doing. She charged these people with murder we brought before them that we’ve arrested – and the courts, the courts released them back into the community, creating an unsafe environment for all of us,” Brown said.
But, Chief Judge Tim Evans argued the facts do not back up the top cop’s claim.
“Looking at individual tragic cases in isolation may contribute to the speculation that releasing individuals before trial rather than incarcerating them -- whether by placing them on Electronic Monitoring (EM) or other forms of supervision -- means an increase in crime,” said Chief Judge Evans, in a statement. “But speculation based on isolated cases is not the same as reality based on a complete picture, and research has shown that bail reform has not led to an increase in crime.”
Evans pointed to a study that said that of more than 1,100 people charged with murder, attempted murder, and reckless homicide over a three-and-a-half year period, fewer than 200 were released on bond, and of those 99 percent were not charged with a new violent crime.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx tweeted back at the police superintendent saying “finger-pointing” does not help bring solutions that make communities safer.
"The violence we are experiencing is not the result of a slowed-down court system; it is a larger and more complex issue (both locally and nationally), that requires all of the criminal justice stakeholders to work together rather than engaging in deflection and blame-shifting," Foxx tweeted.
"Finger-pointing instead of talking honestly about the violence plaguing our city doesn’t help bring solutions that make our communities safer. It starts with apprehending those who pull the trigger; police must make an arrest before a case reaches the courthouse door."
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