(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A former police offer turned Chicago alderman wants the city to prosecute some cases he says the Cook County State's Attorney won't.
Ald. Anthony Napolitano of the 41st Ward said when he was a cop, offenders were afraid to be caught with guns. Now, they expect to quickly be back on the streets, he said.
He blames States Attorney Kimberly Foxx for dropping prosecutions for crimes like gun possession, looting and graffiti.
As a fix, he's proposing an ordinance to divert some offenses, such as gun possession and vandalism, to city hearing officers. That might even reinvigorate some police officers who feel they're making arrests for naught, he said.
"If our state's attorney is dumping all charges left and right, and if this ankle monitor is becoming now a fashion statement and we have so many repeat offenders on the ankle monitors, why isn't the city of Chicago charging these felons for illegally carrying a firearm — or graffiti, which has completely destroyed our city?"
A spokeswoman for Foxx said her office is prosecuting the kinds of gun cases Napolitano refers to.
Foxx has said she is focusing on violent crimes, while Napolitano is looking at low-level offenses.
Opponents of Napolitano's proposal have gotten it sent to the City Council's Rules Committee, which can sometimes be a legislative limbo.
