Upon taking the oath of office, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced policy changes aimed at reducing violence and protecting victims by empowering prosecutors to seek detention as provided under the law.
The SAFE-T Act is a seminal piece of legislation that instills more fairness into our system while also requiring that prosecutors use every tool at their disposal to give victims a voice and keep Cook County safe. Under the SAFE-T Act, the state must file a petition to detain an offender before the court can consider it. A judge can no longer hold someone pretrial absent a prosecutor requesting it.
Effective on Day 1 of State's Attorney Burke's term, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office sought detention for: every detainable felony offense where an offender used or possessed a firearm equipped with an extended magazine, drum magazine, automatic switch, or used a ghost gun or defaced firearm; any domestic violence-related, stalking or sex offense where the offender used or possessed a weapon; any detainable felony offense that is committed on public transportation; all Murder or Class X felony offenses (e.g., First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Arson, Aggravated Battery of a Child, Aggravated Kidnapping, Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, Armed Robbery, Home Invasion, Solicitation of Murder); all sex offenses where the victim was under the age of 13 and the offender was an adult throughout the duration of the offense or when the offense was committed during the commission of another felony; and all cases involving the manufacture, dissemination, or possession of child pornography.
“Together we are going to build a safer, stronger Cook County and that started on Day 1,” said State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. “Let me be clear: weapons of war, violence against the vulnerable, and rampant harm to our communities will not be tolerated."
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling shared his support for State's Attorney Burke’s direction, particularly as it relates to addressing gun crime. “As a police officer and Superintendent, I know too well the danger that assault weapons, illegal guns, and switches pose to the safety of our communities and the officers who serve them every single day,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. “State's Attorney Burke's plan to crack down on offenders who use these dangerous weapons on our streets will help keep people safer in every neighborhood.”
To promote transparency, State's Attorney Burke released an open and public dashboard of detention data, which includes both aggregate and individual data for top charges, whether detention was requested and granted, whether there were conditions placed upon release such as electronic monitoring/home confinement, the branch court the case was heard in, and more. This dashboard will be updated regularly and available below.