Cook County chief judge announces review of electronic monitoring program

New review of Cook County's troubled electronic monitoring system

Changes are coming to the Cook County court system’s troubled electronic monitoring program. State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke spoke about the program’s challenges and the system’s new chief judge is vowing urgent action.

CHICAGO - Changes are coming to the Cook County court system’s troubled electronic monitoring program.

State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke spoke about the program’s challenges and the system’s new chief judge is vowing to take urgent action.

What we know:

Burke said she believes the county is safer thanks to some of the changes she’s brought to the office, like more aggressively seeking pretrial detention for a wider range of alleged violent crimes.

But she made no bones about the fact that the public is not safe, in her mind, if someone deemed a threat is released on electronic monitoring rather than being held in jail. 

The comments come as the newly sworn-in Chief Judge Charles Beach announced a crackdown on the program. 

The program has between 2,000 and 2,500 people on electronic monitoring on a given day, much of the time with no way to police any violations.

Burke said her attorneys are instructed to seek detention of defendants behind bars if they are thought to be a threat, and she hopes judges agree.

"It's not my preference if somebody is a danger," Burke said. "I do not want them on electronic monitoring. But if they're not a danger, and a judge doesn't feel comfortable releasing them, it's almost like a split the baby kind of thing. If we're asking for a detention, judges will say ‘Well, I don’t want to detain him, but I'm not gonna just release him. I'll put him on electronic monitoring.' And that's a false equivalency. It makes people feel safe and they are not safe."

Burke also defended the controversial SAFE-T Act, which abolished cash bail in Illinois. She said the law does not have to lead to more dangerous offenders being released. It simply ended the process of holding someone in jail based on what they can pay.

Burke said it’s incumbent on prosecutors to effectively argue that an offender should be held and a judge to agree. 

The other side:

Meanwhile, the county’s public defender, whose office is in charge of providing legal representation to those who cannot afford an attorney, said he believes electronic monitoring is safe because data shows very few people who are released go on to re-offend.

"The vast majority of people who are accused of a criminal offense and are released do not get re-arrested or re-accused of another offense," said Sharone R. Mitchell Jr., the Cook County Public Defender. "With that said, there are some horrible, horrible tragic examples of somebody being accused of another offense, but I don't think any law can stop that from happening."

Should Illinois' SAFE-T Act be revised? | The Chicago Report

The Illinois SAFE-T Act, which ended cash bail in the state, is coming under renewed scrutiny after some high-profile crimes in Chicago.

And as if on cue, one day into his new job, Beach announced a committee to "urgently" review the electronic monitoring program.

In a statement, Beach said, "The safety of the public and the integrity of our court processes remain our highest priorities. We are committed to a transparent, evidence-based review that enhances accountability, improves coordination and reinforces the public’s trust in our justice system."

Burke reiterated that the biggest problem is who will police someone if they are found to be in violation of electronic monitoring. That's the problem the chief judge's new committee is aiming to resolve. 

Beach said the results of the review are expected to be submitted by the end of January.