Latest news with #EileenO'NeillBurke
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Home Depot, Target fight back on organized retail crime, theft
A lot of crimes, at least when it comes to retail theft, are crimes of opportunity or crimes of need. Maybe you forgot to scan an item, or maybe you intentionally missed it. It's hard to know and even harder to enforce at a self-checkout. Related: Dollar Tree raises red flag about unexpected customer behavior Sometimes the person stealing does it because it's easy and plausibly deniable, while in others, the person steals because they're hungry and broke. Shoplifting and petty checkout theft is a problem, but it's mostly a nuisance compared to organized retail crime. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter "Organized Retail Theft (ORT), also known as Organized Retail Crime (ORC), is the large-scale theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the stolen items for financial gain. ORT may involve a criminal enterprise that employs a group of individuals to steal large quantities of merchandise from multiple stores. These ORT groups maintain or utilize fencing operations to convert the stolen goods into cash," according to the FBI. Stolen items are then sold online, at flea markets, and other places where it's hard to track where the items came from. Image source: Shutterstock You would probably not expect a massive pushback effort to thwart ORT to come from a single group in Illinois, but that's what happened. The Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force coordinated a huge effort across 28 states that led to hundreds of arrests. The agency thanked its many partners on X, the former Twitter. "Thank you to all the agencies, ORCAs, and retailers who participated in the first-ever National ORC Blitz event. The event was a great success!," it shared. An ORCA is an organized retail crime association designed to tackle the problem. The crackdown involved 30 retailers - including Home Depot, Kroger, Macy's, Target, Ulta Beauty, and Walgreens - across 100 jurisdictions, according to CNBC. Joint efforts to crack down on ORC have been supported by the National Retail Federation (NRF). More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersKellogg sounds alarm on unexpected shift in customer behavior "Organized retail crime and related thefts cannot be solved by the retail industry alone. Addressing this issue requires collaboration between retailers, law enforcement, prosecutors, community leaders, and legislators, with action needed at local, state, and national levels," it shared in a report on the NRF website. RetailWire asked its panel of industry experts whether they thought efforts like this would work. "Retailers have enough pressures and issues without having to deal with the cost of retail crime. Shoplifting and stealing from retailers should not be tolerated, and people should be prosecuted and punished. No ifs, no buts. Credit to State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke for spearheading and organizing this crackdown. It needs to be an ongoing effort to show that retail crime comes with consequences," wrote GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders. Social media poster James Tenser was very specific about the cause of the problem and how to lessen its impact. "It's unfortunate that self-service merchandising (which helps keep prices a little lower for honest customers) also creates a temptation for this kind of organized thievery. Retailers can't safely intervene, but they can use electronic surveillance to identify professional thieves and aid their apprehension and prosecution by the authorities," he posted. Organized retail theft is not garden-variety shoplifting, he explained. "The stakes are much higher, which makes the perpetrators more potentially dangerous. Since stolen goods are likely to find their way into online marketplaces or neighborhood flea markets, only a focused law-enforcement effort can find and trace items back to the offenders," he added. "While the term 'crackdown' seems a bit harsh, I'd like to think that 'certainty of prosecution' would be am effective deterrent. The key is consistent enforcement of existing laws." Related: Domino's and Pizza Hut rival makes 'first-in-decade' menu change Poster Christopher P. Ramey was not interested in exploring the possibility that some people steal because they need to in order to survive. "Thieves are thieves. There are no free passes. Retailers can't fix societal root causes, nor should they be expected to fix them. That's why we have laws and police to enforce them," he shared. Ramey supported the enforcement efforts. "A national crackdown that includes other law enforcement agencies is exactly what may be needed. Then we need to put the shoplifters away long enough so they learn their lesson. We owe the retailers an aggressive response, for they are the victims," he added. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Organizations push back on new charging pilot program in letter to State's Attorney Burke
Dozens of people and organizations on Friday sent a letter to Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke opposing a pilot program that allows Chicago police officers to bypass prosecutors and directly file charges in some low-level felony gun cases, arguing the initiative 'removes critical oversight from the charging process.' The 136 signers of the letter, which include the ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, as well as Chicago Police district councilors, professors and academics and other individuals, ask Burke to halt the policy and reinstate felony review for all gun cases. 'It undermines fundamental principles of equal justice and due process, erodes public trust, and poses serious risks to communities who are already overpoliced,' the letter said, arguing the pilot program disproportionately impacts Black neighborhoods. In Cook County, local police submit many felony cases to assistant state's attorneys who decide whether to approve charges. The office's Felony Review Unit is nearly unique, with few other similar models nationwide, though not all felony charges go through that process. Most felony narcotics cases are directly filed by police. Matt McGrath, spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said in a statement that all 54 cases that have gone before a judge or grand jury have 'withstood scrutiny and advanced.' Another 12 cases are still pending. The office plans to continuing expanding the program, he said. 'The felony review bypass program is a collaborative effort between the State's Attorney's office and CPD designed to get police officers back on the beat sooner while allowing prosecutors to focus time and resources on violent and victim-centric crimes,' McGrath said. 'It's important to note felony review bypass is not prosecutorial review bypass, and the pilot is working due to extensive training of district personnel by CCSAO felony review supervisors and clearly defined evidence requirements, among other factors.' The state's attorney's office launched the pilot program in January in the department's Englewood District on the South Side and later expanded to the Far South Side's Calumet District while the office reviews data with an eye on continuing to grow the program. Officials have said the effort frees up police and prosecutors for higher level work by allowing police to directly file charges in matters where felony review prosecutors were already approving charges in around 90% of cases and generally handling them by phone. Still, the move was criticized by Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. and some aldermen and community members, who pointed out that the stakes can be high for an individual if police get charges wrong, as people can be detained until the case goes before a judge. But the program got a nod of support from Mayor Brandon Johnson who told WTTW last month that the effort would 'give us an opportunity to see if we can expedite the process that one, solves crime, but it doesn't impede officers from returning back to the people.' Friday's letter marked an effort to push back on a larger scale, and it argued that prosecutors, rather than police, have the legal training to assess the legitimacy of criminal charges. It contended that the districts chosen for the pilot program are majority Black and have a history of abuse at the hands of police, including torture and excessive force. Among other objections, the letter also said the move was made without community input and could put a strain on court resources. 'Lack of independent review at this stage increases the risk of unconstitutional arrests being taken to court and shaky legal cases proceeding to prosecution, and it undermines accountability and trust within the legal system,' the letter said.
Chicago Tribune
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Organizations push back on new charging pilot program in letter to State's Attorney Burke
Dozens of people and organizations on Friday sent a letter to Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke opposing a pilot program that allows Chicago police officers to bypass prosecutors and directly file charges in some low-level felony gun cases, arguing the initiative 'removes critical oversight from the charging process.' The 136 signers of the letter, which include the ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, as well as Chicago Police district councilors, professors and academics and other individuals, ask Burke to halt the policy and reinstate felony review for all gun cases. 'It undermines fundamental principles of equal justice and due process, erodes public trust, and poses serious risks to communities who are already overpoliced,' the letter said, arguing the pilot program disproportionately impacts Black neighborhoods. In Cook County, local police submit many felony cases to assistant state's attorneys who decide whether to approve charges. The office's Felony Review Unit is nearly unique, with few other similar models nationwide, though not all felony charges go through that process. Most felony narcotics cases are directly filed by police. Matt McGrath, spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said in a statement that all 54 cases that have gone before a judge or grand jury have 'withstood scrutiny and advanced.' Another 12 cases are still pending. The office plans to continuing expanding the program, he said. 'The felony review bypass program is a collaborative effort between the State's Attorney's office and CPD designed to get police officers back on the beat sooner while allowing prosecutors to focus time and resources on violent and victim-centric crimes,' McGrath said. 'It's important to note felony review bypass is not prosecutorial review bypass, and the pilot is working due to extensive training of district personnel by CCSAO felony review supervisors and clearly defined evidence requirements, among other factors.' The state's attorney's office launched the pilot program in January in the department's Englewood District on the South Side and later expanded to the Far South Side's Calumet District while the office reviews data with an eye on continuing to grow the program. Officials have said the effort frees up police and prosecutors for higher level work by allowing police to directly file charges in matters where felony review prosecutors were already approving charges in around 90% of cases and generally handling them by phone. Still, the move was criticized by Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. and some aldermen and community members, who pointed out that the stakes can be high for an individual if police get charges wrong, as people can be detained until the case goes before a judge. But the program got a nod of support from Mayor Brandon Johnson who told WTTW last month that the effort would 'give us an opportunity to see if we can expedite the process that one, solves crime, but it doesn't impede officers from returning back to the people.' Friday's letter marked an effort to push back on a larger scale, and it argued that prosecutors, rather than police, have the legal training to assess the legitimacy of criminal charges. It contended that the districts chosen for the pilot program are majority Black and have a history of abuse at the hands of police, including torture and excessive force. Among other objections, the letter also said the move was made without community input and could put a strain on court resources. 'Lack of independent review at this stage increases the risk of unconstitutional arrests being taken to court and shaky legal cases proceeding to prosecution, and it undermines accountability and trust within the legal system,' the letter said.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With Cook County Jail's population again on the rise, officials weigh the reasons
Early in the morning outside Cook County Jail, a group of new detainees stepped out of a Chicago police wagon and walked bleary-eyed into the bright sunlight before lining up inside against a brick wall. Brought in from the police districts, the men were among the newest bookings to the jail, where they would wait until a judge ruled on whether they would be admitted or released while their charges were pending. And the jail, busy during the early morning hours as police brought in overnight arrestees and deputies shuttled detainees to court appearances, may only grow more bustling: After a decline following statewide bail reform — and years of reductions prior to that — the county's jail population has begun to tick up once again. In an internal report obtained by the Tribune via a public records request, the Cook County sheriff's office found that the average daily jail population has risen by about 12% in recent months, reaching its highest level in eight months at the end of March. The report also found sharp increases in detention for some charge types for which State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has implemented policy changes. Many factors can influence the ebb and flow of the jail's population, and experts pointed to a number of potential considerations when evaluating it, including arrest rates and judicial decision-making. The sheriff's office's analysis, the report said, sought to understand the impact of the policies of Burke, who was ceremonially sworn in on Dec. 2. Sheriff Tom Dart, in an interview with the Tribune, made clear that he supports policies that keep high-risk defendants incarcerated, but said he is concerned about how long inmates remain in jail as court cases move sluggishly through the system. In 2023, the Tribune's Stalled Justice series documented how Cook County murder cases were taking longer than ever to conclude, and longer than in any other major court system that could be studied. Reporters uncovered multiple chokepoints that were stalling cases long before the pandemic, in a system overseen by judges who allowed cases to languish and court leaders who ignored repeated recommendations for fixes. The county jail is meant to be a temporary waypoint for defendants until their case is finished, and lengthiness of proceedings can contribute to jail population levels. In other quarters, the jail's spike raised questions about whether prosecutors were considering the nuance of cases amid Burke's more hardline detention policies than her predecessor Kim Foxx, who was elected in 2016 with a reform mandate on a wave of anger over the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer. But Yvette Loizon, chief of policy at the state's attorney's office, said that prosecutors are only one piece of the detention mechanism. 'When people want to lay the uptick in the jail population at our feet, that's a fundamental misapprehension of the process,' she said, adding that judges ultimately make the decision and defense attorneys can offer evidence that refutes or mitigates the need for jailing. 'I would submit that because we are doing a better job of presenting relevant and necessary and important information to the judiciary … judges have more information and better information upon which to make the decision.' Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office declined to comment, saying that jail matters are under the purview of the sheriff's office. Regardless of political viewpoints on detention, the rising jail numbers have not gone unnoticed by city and county stakeholders, as the phenomenon — especially if it continues into the traditionally more violent summer months — could come with complications such as cost increases and more difficulty with crowd management. And though the new state's attorney is an obvious consideration when studying the recent influx, experts said the reasons are likely multifaceted. 'It's probably not a simple explanation,' said David Olson, co-director of Loyola University Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research. By the numbers Since the 2010s, the county's jail population has fallen significantly, cut nearly in half from typical average populations around 10,000 in that era. It started decreasing after Evans in 2017 reformed county policies around bail and was reduced further after the Pretrial Fairness Act in September 2023 eliminated cash bail in Illinois. After the measure took effect, the jail numbers fell to under 5,000 for much of 2023 and 2024, reaching levels not seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when some lower-risk inmates were diverted from the jail for public health reasons. When Burke took office in early December, the jail's population was around 5,200, having increased slightly at the end of Foxx's term, according to data from the sheriff's office. As of Friday, the population had grown to just over 5,600. The sheriff's office plans to produce a monthly analysis with the goal of tracking the impact of Burke's policies on the jail, according to the first such report in March. Among the findings of the April report: Monthly admissions for people ordered detained had increased 47% as of the end of March, compared with admissions during the month prior to the start of Burke's term. Admissions for domestic battery and felony retail theft-related offenses saw the largest increases, 81% and 32% respectively, compared with November of 2024. Olson said the theft-related increase caught his eye because such charges are generally not an offense prosecutors are allowed to seek detention on, though defendants can be detained if there are other charges or violations involved. 'That there's a big increase in people coming in on a theft charge seems odd because theft offenses are not eligible for pretrial detention at the first stage,' he said. 'The fact that those have gone up so much suggests that it might be people who were on pretrial release that then got charged for a new crime that the state is now seeking to detain them.' During a swearing-in speech last year, Burke announced that prosecutors would automatically ask judges to order defendants detained while awaiting trial if they faced certain charges. By contrast, Foxx's office had said it reviewed each case individually before making a decision about whether to seek detention. Burke also reversed a policy by Foxx that raised the threshold to charge retail theft as a felony to $1,000, reverting back to the legal bar of $300. She also has ordered prosecutors to seek prison sentences in more gun cases. Impact on the ground On Wednesday morning, inmates lined up to wait for buses to take them to court appearances in courthouses across Cook County. In all, about 500 were ushered out, to return later in the afternoon. Cook County Jail sits on one of the largest single-site complexes in the country, though some of it is unused amid the population shrinkages over the years. Dart said the population increase is 'very manageable' noting the unused space, but he said that staffing shortages might mean personnel challenges if the trend continues. He called for better court case management to allow for more timely resolutions for cases. 'I want violent people off the street so if that number is 5,100, fine, if it's 5,700, fine, if it's 6,000 fine … whatever that number is, that's what my job is, that's what the jail is for,' Dart said. 'That other overriding thing, length of stay, that just factors in because it causes so many additional problems and there's no reason for it.' Other stakeholders said they noted the increase with some alarm. Sharlyn Grace, senior policy adviser at the Cook County public defender's office, said the city has not experienced rising crime levels to correspond with the increasing jail population. 'I think it does raise a lot of questions about public safety and what the impact is going to be because we know many people who are subject to pretrial detention will come home,' she said. 'Research shows that detaining people is going to lead to less employment, less stable housing … a higher likelihood of re-arrest.' Matthew McLoughlin, campaign coordinator for the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, said Burke's detention policy is contrary to the spirit of reforms to the county's pretrial system, adding that the group believes it's the primary driver of the jail's spike. 'I would say the blanket detention policies that she's put forward since taking office … are not in line with the goals of the Pretrial Fairness Act,' he said. 'It was really designed to make sure court stakeholders were taking time with each individual case.' Loizon, though, said line prosecutors are presenting judges with a 'very thorough and fulsome explanation of the details of the crime.' 'We're not walking away from our detention policy and the state's attorney's office absolutely owns the fact that we are ensuring our ASAs are presenting all the information that they can present so that a judge can make an informed decision based on the relevant facts,' Loizon said. 'We absolutely own that piece of it because that is a priority for us.' Slow-moving justice The longest-waiting detainee in Cook County — Augustin Toscano — has been jailed more than 14 years without a trial, since midway through the first Obama administration. He's awaiting trial on allegations he was part of a drug and robbery crew blamed for more than a dozen slayings from 2009 to 2011. His wait offers a case study of how Cook County's system can get gummed up, with court records showing yearslong waits to gather and share evidence, then yearslong, slow-motion arguments over what evidence can be shown at trial, with delays also blamed on the pandemic, the case judge's own arrest on a gun charge and both sides blaming the other for stall tactics. Toscano also dismissed his attorney to argue on his own behalf. 'Literally there is no case that gets better as it gets older,' Dart said. The length of stay for inmates at the jail has long been a prime issue for the sheriff, who noted it again now in light of rising jail numbers. 'Theoretically if cases were moving through the system more readily, then additional people coming would not be much of a notice because we'd be moving people out just as well,' he said. The Cook County state's attorney's office hasn't recently updated its disposition data, which the Tribune previously used to calculate how long murder cases were taking. (The courts don't publish their own data.) But in looking at daily jail logs published by the Cook County sheriff's office, the data suggests progress in some measures but not in others — and shows Cook County still struggles far more to take cases to trial than the busier New York City court system. Some national advocates call for detainees to wait no more than a year for a trial. As of the most recent data, the county jail housed nearly 1,800 people waiting at least a year. That's down from roughly 2,000 two years ago, but still about 400 higher than the number in New York City's system waiting at least a year for a trial, according to a Tribune analysis of both systems' jail data. The county struggles even more with longer waits. Nearly 190 people have been waiting at least five years for a trial in Cook County — about 50 less than two years ago. But that's still dramatically higher than in New York City, which only had 18 detainees waiting that long, at last count. And Cook County still grapples with perhaps the most notorious statistic: the number jailed at least a decade without trial. In the spring of 2021, there were six people waiting in jail for at least 10 years. By April 2023, that figure had doubled. And two years later, it's even higher, with 15 detainees now waiting at least that long for a trial. New York City, by comparison, has no one waiting a decade. At worst, the longest-waiting inmate in New York City's system has been there 7 ½ years. In Toscano's case, he's asked a judge to throw out the charges because of how long the case has taken, blaming both prosecutors and his former attorney, arguing that it's now practically impossible for him to track down witnesses from so long ago. No trial date has been set.
Chicago Tribune
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
With Cook County Jail's population again on the rise, officials weigh the reasons
Early in the morning outside Cook County Jail, a group of new detainees stepped out of a Chicago police wagon and walked bleary-eyed into the bright sunlight before lining up inside against a brick wall. Brought in from the police districts, the men were among the newest bookings to the jail, where they would wait until a judge ruled on whether they would be admitted or released while their charges were pending. And the jail, busy during the early morning hours as police brought in overnight arrestees and deputies shuttled detainees to court appearances, may only grow more bustling: After a decline following statewide bail reform — and years of reductions prior to that — the county's jail population has begun to tick up once again. In an internal report obtained by the Tribune via a public records request, the Cook County sheriff's office found that the average daily jail population has risen by about 12% in recent months, reaching its highest level in eight months at the end of March. The report also found sharp increases in detention for some charge types for which State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has implemented policy changes. Many factors can influence the ebb and flow of the jail's population, and experts pointed to a number of potential considerations when evaluating it, including arrest rates and judicial decision-making. The sheriff's office's analysis, the report said, sought to understand the impact of the policies of Burke, who was ceremonially sworn in on Dec. 2. Sheriff Tom Dart, in an interview with the Tribune, made clear that he supports policies that keep high-risk defendants incarcerated, but said he is concerned about how long inmates remain in jail as court cases move sluggishly through the system. In 2023, the Tribune's Stalled Justice series documented how Cook County murder cases were taking longer than ever to conclude, and longer than in any other major court system that could be studied. Reporters uncovered multiple chokepoints that were stalling cases long before the pandemic, in a system overseen by judges who allowed cases to languish and court leaders who ignored repeated recommendations for fixes. The county jail is meant to be a temporary waypoint for defendants until their case is finished, and lengthiness of proceedings can contribute to jail population levels. In other quarters, the jail's spike raised questions about whether prosecutors were considering the nuance of cases amid Burke's more hardline detention policies than her predecessor Kim Foxx, who was elected in 2016 with a reform mandate on a wave of anger over the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer. But Yvette Loizon, chief of policy at the state's attorney's office, said that prosecutors are only one piece of the detention mechanism. 'When people want to lay the uptick in the jail population at our feet, that's a fundamental misapprehension of the process,' she said, adding that judges ultimately make the decision and defense attorneys can offer evidence that refutes or mitigates the need for jailing. 'I would submit that because we are doing a better job of presenting relevant and necessary and important information to the judiciary … judges have more information and better information upon which to make the decision.' Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office declined to comment, saying that jail matters are under the purview of the sheriff's office. Regardless of political viewpoints on detention, the rising jail numbers have not gone unnoticed by city and county stakeholders, as the phenomenon — especially if it continues into the traditionally more violent summer months — could come with complications such as cost increases and more difficulty with crowd management. And though the new state's attorney is an obvious consideration when studying the recent influx, experts said the reasons are likely multifaceted. 'It's probably not a simple explanation,' said David Olson, co-director of Loyola University Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research. By the numbers Since the 2010s, the county's jail population has fallen significantly, cut nearly in half from typical average populations around 10,000 in that era. It started decreasing after Evans in 2017 reformed county policies around bail and was reduced further after the Pretrial Fairness Act in September 2023 eliminated cash bail in Illinois. After the measure took effect, the jail numbers fell to under 5,000 for much of 2023 and 2024, reaching levels not seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when some lower-risk inmates were diverted from the jail for public health reasons. When Burke took office in early December, the jail's population was around 5,200, having increased slightly at the end of Foxx's term, according to data from the sheriff's office. As of Friday, the population had grown to just over 5,600. The sheriff's office plans to produce a monthly analysis with the goal of tracking the impact of Burke's policies on the jail, according to the first such report in March. Among the findings of the April report: Monthly admissions for people ordered detained had increased 47% as of the end of March, compared with admissions during the month prior to the start of Burke's term. Admissions for domestic battery and felony retail theft-related offenses saw the largest increases, 81% and 32% respectively, compared with November of 2024. Olson said the theft-related increase caught his eye because such charges are generally not an offense prosecutors are allowed to seek detention on, though defendants can be detained if there are other charges or violations involved. 'That there's a big increase in people coming in on a theft charge seems odd because theft offenses are not eligible for pretrial detention at the first stage,' he said. 'The fact that those have gone up so much suggests that it might be people who were on pretrial release that then got charged for a new crime that the state is now seeking to detain them.' During a swearing-in speech last year, Burke announced that prosecutors would automatically ask judges to order defendants detained while awaiting trial if they faced certain charges. By contrast, Foxx's office had said it reviewed each case individually before making a decision about whether to seek detention. Burke also reversed a policy by Foxx that raised the threshold to charge retail theft as a felony to $1,000, reverting back to the legal bar of $300. She also has ordered prosecutors to seek prison sentences in more gun cases. Impact on the ground On Wednesday morning, inmates lined up to wait for buses to take them to court appearances in courthouses across Cook County. In all, about 500 were ushered out, to return later in the afternoon. Cook County Jail sits on one of the largest single-site complexes in the country, though some of it is unused amid the population shrinkages over the years. Dart said the population increase is 'very manageable' noting the unused space, but he said that staffing shortages might mean personnel challenges if the trend continues. He called for better court case management to allow for more timely resolutions for cases. 'I want violent people off the street so if that number is 5,100, fine, if it's 5,700, fine, if it's 6,000 fine … whatever that number is, that's what my job is, that's what the jail is for,' Dart said. 'That other overriding thing, length of stay, that just factors in because it causes so many additional problems and there's no reason for it.' Other stakeholders said they noted the increase with some alarm. Sharlyn Grace, senior policy adviser at the Cook County public defender's office, said the city has not experienced rising crime levels to correspond with the increasing jail population. 'I think it does raise a lot of questions about public safety and what the impact is going to be because we know many people who are subject to pretrial detention will come home,' she said. 'Research shows that detaining people is going to lead to less employment, less stable housing … a higher likelihood of re-arrest.' Matthew McLoughlin, campaign coordinator for the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, said Burke's detention policy is contrary to the spirit of reforms to the county's pretrial system, adding that the group believes it's the primary driver of the jail's spike. 'I would say the blanket detention policies that she's put forward since taking office … are not in line with the goals of the Pretrial Fairness Act,' he said. 'It was really designed to make sure court stakeholders were taking time with each individual case.' Loizon, though, said line prosecutors are presenting judges with a 'very thorough and fulsome explanation of the details of the crime.' 'We're not walking away from our detention policy and the state's attorney's office absolutely owns the fact that we are ensuring our ASAs are presenting all the information that they can present so that a judge can make an informed decision based on the relevant facts,' Loizon said. 'We absolutely own that piece of it because that is a priority for us.' Slow-moving justice The longest-waiting detainee in Cook County — Augustin Toscano — has been jailed more than 14 years without a trial, since midway through the first Obama administration. He's awaiting trial on allegations he was part of a drug and robbery crew blamed for more than a dozen slayings from 2009 to 2011. His wait offers a case study of how Cook County's system can get gummed up, with court records showing yearslong waits to gather and share evidence, then yearslong, slow-motion arguments over what evidence can be shown at trial, with delays also blamed on the pandemic, the case judge's own arrest on a gun charge and both sides blaming the other for stall tactics. Toscano also dismissed his attorney to argue on his own behalf. 'Literally there is no case that gets better as it gets older,' Dart said. The length of stay for inmates at the jail has long been a prime issue for the sheriff, who noted it again now in light of rising jail numbers. 'Theoretically if cases were moving through the system more readily, then additional people coming would not be much of a notice because we'd be moving people out just as well,' he said. The Cook County state's attorney's office hasn't recently updated its disposition data, which the Tribune previously used to calculate how long murder cases were taking. (The courts don't publish their own data.) But in looking at daily jail logs published by the Cook County sheriff's office, the data suggests progress in some measures but not in others — and shows Cook County still struggles far more to take cases to trial than the busier New York City court system. Some national advocates call for detainees to wait no more than a year for a trial. As of the most recent data, the county jail housed nearly 1,800 people waiting at least a year. That's down from roughly 2,000 two years ago, but still about 400 higher than the number in New York City's system waiting at least a year for a trial, according to a Tribune analysis of both systems' jail data. The county struggles even more with longer waits. Nearly 190 people have been waiting at least five years for a trial in Cook County — about 50 less than two years ago. But that's still dramatically higher than in New York City, which only had 18 detainees waiting that long, at last count. And Cook County still grapples with perhaps the most notorious statistic: the number jailed at least a decade without trial. In the spring of 2021, there were six people waiting in jail for at least 10 years. By April 2023, that figure had doubled. And two years later, it's even higher, with 15 detainees now waiting at least that long for a trial. New York City, by comparison, has no one waiting a decade. At worst, the longest-waiting inmate in New York City's system has been there 7 ½ years. In Toscano's case, he's asked a judge to throw out the charges because of how long the case has taken, blaming both prosecutors and his former attorney, arguing that it's now practically impossible for him to track down witnesses from so long ago. No trial date has been set.
