The skyrocketing crime rate in Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, is leaving many of our more than 5 million residents fearful for their safety and even their lives. Yet Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has shown far more sympathy for criminals than for our law-abiding residents, failing abysmally to do her job to bring lawbreakers to justice.
As the Chicago Tribune reported Monday, Foxx “is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to a Tribune analysis. … During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.”
The Tribune article continues: “In all, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694 for a similar period under Alvarez.”
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This is a disgraceful record that endangers our community and should disqualify any prosecutor from remaining in office, much less from being reelected. But Foxx wants to keep her job, so is now trying frantically to portray herself as more interested in protecting law-abiding residents than protecting lawbreakers.
In an op-ed published by the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, Foxx tries to escape responsibility for her disgraceful soft-on-crime record, writing: “Gun violence is surging in Chicago and we’re all shattered by the loss of life …. In this environment, it’s natural to look for others to blame…. But, pointing fingers of blame will not make us any safer.”
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“I invite my colleagues in law enforcement at the city, county, state and federal level to join me at a table devoted to advancing public safety and equal justice,” Foxx’s op-ed continues. “If, as it has been alleged, policies of my office are proven to contribute to looting or lawlessness, I will be the first to change them.”
An invitation like this would have made sense during Foxx’s first week in office. But at this point, it’s too little too late.
So far this year 2,058 people have been shot and wounded in Chicago, and 435 have been shot and killed — and there are still more than four months left until the end of the year. In July alone there were 107 murders in the city.
And don’t believe the lie that trigger-happy cops are responsible for a big share of shootings. So far this year six people have been wounded and three have been killed in police-involved shootings in Chicago.
Any civilized society has law and order at its core value.
In the entire year of 2019 there were 2,292 people shot and wounded in Chicago and 463 shot and killed. In all of 2019, six people were wounded and six were killed in police-involved shootings.
Put another way, overall shootings are occurring with astounding frequency. This year on average a person has been shot every 2 hours and 12 minutes in Chicago and murdered every 11 hours and 27 minutes. In 2019 on average, one person was shot every 3 hours and 11 minutes, and a person was murdered every 16 hours and 56 minutes.
The 2019 statistics are awful. But the frequency of shootings and deaths so far this year is tragically worse.
Foxx can’t run from her awful record on prosecuting criminals. She should be defeated in November because her election-year conversion into a crime-fighter is an insincere charade. The Democratic state’s attorney’s Republican opponent, Pat O’Brien is a far better choice for everyone interested in reducing our crime rate and keeping our families safe.
Beginning with her last campaign, Foxx has championed “justice reform” that unfairly demonizes law enforcement officers, including those I represent as president of Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago. She was never interested in talking with the Fraternal Order of Police or the police officers or retired officers we represent. Yet police officers risk their lives every day to defend our community from dangerous criminals.
Now, terrified of losing her reelection bid, Foxx is looking for every scapegoat she can think of to blame for the shootings, rioting, looting and other crimes that are plaguing the people of Chicago.
Foxx blames systemic racism and other ills for the increase in crime — but if she wants to find a major reason for the recent surge in the crime rate and rioting, all she has to do is look in the mirror. When she keep dropping charges against criminals she invites more crime.
Here’s the sad reality: The largest employer in Chicago is street gangs. Those gangs are responsible for the majority of the shootings and killings that have made Chicago famous for all the wrong reasons. Those gangs' primary source of income is drug sales. Nobody can dispute this fact.
Therefore, cracking down on drug crimes starves gangs of the money they need to operate. But such a crackdown requires a prosecutor willing to prosecute. Foxx is not that person.
In the name of "justice reform" dropping over half the felony drug cases in Cook County and 25% of the most serious felony prosecutions — as Foxx has done — proved to be an absolutely awful idea, according to the Chicago Tribune investigation
When the chief law enforcement officer of Cook County thinks the best course of action is to let many of the baseline drivers of violence off with a warning, it's no wonder the result is a bloodbath in the streets. Sadly, many young innocent victims have had to pay the price for Foxx’s reckless policies.
Foxx is just one part of a broken Cook County criminal justice system. Sheriff Tom Dart oversees a dysfunctional ankle-monitoring program that oftentimes has no clue as to where an offender is located.
The chief judge in the country, Tim Evans, has encouraged judges to lower bail. County Board President Tony Preckwinkle has run the county into the ground even faster than Mayor Lori Lightfoot has done to Chicago. It's a recipe for disaster. Foxx is just the most visible failure.
Unfortunately, politicians and their failed policies have made Chicago a city that now borders on unlivable.
Our current environment is the very reason we have elections. Thankfully, the citizens can start to steer the ship away from the collision course with the iceberg it is currently heading for at full speed.
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The November election is a battle for the heart and soul of the great city that I have called home my entire life. Voters have a chance to say enough is enough.
Any civilized society has law and order at its core value. Chicago has lost its way. I have faith that the silent majority will finally awaken with a thunderous voice and usher in the beginnings of change when they cast their ballots. We cannot continue to sit back silently while the mob and the pandering politicians ruin what is left of Chicago.
As president of the FOP Lodge 7 in Chicago I am proud of the work our members do every day. Our members are not racists who are out to shoot unarmed Black men. Many of our law enforcement officers are Black themselves, and all our members are dedicated to protecting all the people we serve, regardless of their race.
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It’s a fact that the number of Black men, women and children shot and killed by criminals far exceeds the number who are killed in confrontations with police. Yet protesters don’t demonstrate and riot over the killings committed by criminals.
Law enforcement officers have shown tremendous restraint in the face of unending criminal attacks on them during rioting. They will continue to be champions for law and order and I am proud to lead them and defend them.