CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — When it comes to addressing violent crime, the Chicago Police Department said it’s running in place.
Police Supt. David Brown has once again taken a swipe at the Cook County court system as shootings remain up 10% for the year in Chicago.
“You know, it's just frustrating to the officers to have this revolving door in our courts for any and all crimes, but especially murder,” said Brown during a press briefing Monday morning. “It's madness, it’s quite frustrating for our officers, because every gun recovery, every gun arrest, officers put their lives on the line.”
Chicago Police have recovered 7,322 guns so far this year and made 3,477 gun arrests.
Brown said the department is on track to set a record of more than 12,000 illegal weapons recovered this year.
“You should not be running in place as far as homicides, and you should not be up 10% [in shootings] with the pace of the work that the men and women of the Chicago Police Department have done in recovering guns,” he said.
Brown cited a recent case involving 22-year-old Torrence Reese, who was charged with shooting three people, two of which died, during a narcotics deal in Brighton Park in 2017.
He was released on electronic monitoring in June.
“If you release Mr. Reese, who was charged with two murders and an attempted murder, and continued to commit crime while in jail, we're going to run in place as a city,” said Brown. “Too many violent, repeat offenders are being released back into these communities, creating a sense of lawlessness and no consequences for their behavior, making for a dangerous environment.”
Those from the Cook County Circuit Court previously told the Sun Times that Brown’s criticism is overly simplistic and not based in reality.
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