Metro East Sun

Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) is citing a report that said arrests in Chicago were made for only 5% of offenses that include murders, sexual assaults, aggravated batteries and carjackings.

“Chicago is trending in the wrong direction when it comes to public safety,” Halbrook said. “This is primarily due to the poor policy decisions coming from City Hall. (Mayor) Lori Lightfoot has run the Chicago Police Department into the ground. Morale is down and the lack of support from city leaders is taking a toll on the ability of the department to keep Chicago safe, but what do we expect when the mayor seems to care more about criminals than the safety of honest citizens?”

Halbrook is putting blame on CookCounty's state’s attorney.

“We are here because of poor policy decisions and because Cook County has a prosecutor who refuses to prosecute criminals,” Halbrook said. “There is no fear of paying the price for committing crimes in Chicago. Criminals know they will be released, and they don’t fear the repercussions for their actions. The end result is an overwhelmed police force and a dramatic rise in crime throughout the City.”

Arrest rates varied by the type of “major crime,” based on the seven categories that cities have long reported to the federal government, with Chicago’s homicide arrest down 5% to 29% in 2022 and some 13% lower than the 41% in 2020.

“We need a new mayor in the City of Chicago,” Halbrook said. “Lightfoot is more interested in recording music videos than she is in actually leading the third largest city in America. We also need a recall provision for Cook County so that voters can recall State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and replace her with someone who will actually prosecute criminals. What Foxx is doing is deliberate. It is wrong and she needs to go.”

The highest arrest rate for thefts in 2022 was for the nearly 9,000 retail thefts – at 16%. Meaning more than four of five retail thieves in Chicago escape justice. The nearly 20,000 thefts “over $500” resulted in arrests just 1% of the time and the nearly 19,000 thefts “$500 and under” led to arrests in just 1.6% of cases. For the almost 5,000 “thefts from a building” the arrest rate was 0.5%.