As we approach the one-year anniversary of Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, proponents are in high gear with a concerted public relations campaign. Their message? This criminal justice system reform is a rousing success. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx added that its detractors were racially motivated. Meanwhile, other data says differently.
The principles of the SAFE-T Act originated years ago with a 2017 bail reform issued by Cook County’s chief judge of the Circuit Court. A 2020 Loyola University Chicago study of the reform called the program a success because “felony defendants charged with a new crime while on pretrial release was similar.” However, a 2020 University of Utah study yielded far different results. That study showed that the “number of released defendants charged with committing new crimes increased by 45%” and a 33% increase in violent crimes committed by people on pretrial release.
One repercussion of the SAFE-T Act is suspects accused of violent crimes returning to communities through the sheriff’s electronic monitoring program. This year, those on electronic monitoring included 116 individuals charged with murder and attempted murder, 119 with sex crimes, 112 with aggravated battery, 431 with aggravated gun possession and 188 with felony gun possession. The large increase in domestic violence offenses should also be a major concern as more people accused of abuse are being released to potentially cause harm. The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports a 110% spike in domestic violence-related deaths last year. Some of the women killed had filed orders of protection that never went into effect due to the the Cook County sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies not serving them to the abusers.
It’s time to make the SAFE-T Act safe. It should be amended to make it easier to detain anyone who attacks, threatens or intimidates victims, witnesses or first responders. The legislature must find a way to provide prosecutors and courts with the resources to advocate for pretrial detention of those accused of being violent perpetrators and provide the financial support promised to protect witnesses and victims when the SAFE-T Act was passed.
The state of Illinois must ensure that orders of protection entered into the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) are served and enforced by the county sheriff and, when needed, by local law enforcement. These orders can mandate that the abuser leave the home, transfer ownership of firearms and relinquish their firearm owner’s identification card. These actions are critical to protecting victims, their children, co-workers and members of law enforcement, many who have been killed or injured in domestic incidents.
Finally, all public safety data needs to be readily accessible to the public. This includes any data analyzing the SAFE-T Act. The offices of pretrial services, the probation department, the juvenile justice system and the court system should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The reports and data from LEADS should be provided to the public and via FOIA. Lack of accurate information impacts everyone in the system, our public safety and victims of crime.
As proponents such as Foxx claim the SAFE-T Act’s critics were motivated by race, the fact remains that victims of violent crime in Chicago are overwhelmingly people of color. Public safety is a fundamental human right, and that right is being denied, especially to the Black community, when the concept of keeping violent and habitual offenders off our streets is being abandoned.
Paul Vallas is an adviser for the Illinois Policy Institute. He ran for Chicago mayor in 2023 and in 2019 and was previously budget director for the city and CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
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