On Saturday afternoon, frustrated residents attended a special town hall meeting in Englewood to air out their grievances against new Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who recently launched a pilot program in the 7th District that allows Chicago Police officers to bypass felony review in gun possession cases.
“This program is being piloted right here in the 7th District, Englewood, one of the most historically over policed, over-surveilled and under-resourced communities not just in this city, but arguably in the nation,” 7th district police district councilor (PDC) Dion McGill said.
Saturday’s meeting follows initial reporting by Bolts detailing that the pilot program rolled out in January. Additional news of it expanding to the 5th Police District came out recently. The 5th District includes Washington Heights, Roseland, Pullman, West Pullman, South Deering, and Riverdale, almost all of which are predominantly Black South Side neighborhoods.
The 7th District PD Council hosted the town hall at the Ogden Park Fieldhouse, and the room was packed with residents and Chicago City Council members whose wards include parts of Englewood: Alds. William Hall (6th Ward), Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), Stephanie Coleman (16th), and David Moore (6th Ward).
Noticeably absent from the meeting was Burke, which drew criticism from alders.
“I wish she was here today because it was something, I believe, that’s her brain child that she rolled out from her office,” Moore said. “You upset the community when you inform them on the backend instead of on the frontend.”
Coleman also questioned why the 7th District was chosen for the pilot; she added that she’s been attending police beat meetings, and that there’s been a drop in gun possession cases.
“I hope that this is a teachable moment for [the] State’s Attorney’s Office,” Coleman said. “We will gladly welcome her to the 6th, 16th, 17th or 20th, 15th wards any day. Come on over to Englewood. Don’t be afraid. We’re here. We have teeth, but we don’t bite too hard. We want inclusiveness. As you can see, when the clarion call is made, our community responds.”
To some, it also feels like the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) is targeting a predominantly Black neighborhood that has experienced decades-long disinvestment and is already over-surveilled.
“Everyone deserves the right to have due process. I know that this is going to help our department work more efficiently and do things at their level, but at the end of the day, we gotta also look out for the people who are actually in the neighborhood who’s going to be affected by this,” said 7th district police district councilor Joseph Williams.
Burke’s policy chief, Yvette Loizon, attended the meeting. She said Englewood was specifically chosen because there are a significant number of gun cases in the 7th district.
Previously, police officers could wait up to six to eight hours for an assistant state’s attorney to approve less serious gun possession felonies by phone. Officers call the Assistant State’s Attorney (ASA) and recount what happened in the specific case. The ASA listens and enters data into the system, and then the ASA approves charges over the phone. While they are on the phone, they aren’t allowed to leave the precinct to patrol.
Under Burke’s new bypass felony review program, charges include unlawful possession of a weapon, aggravated unlawful possession, and possession by a felon. Once these charges are filed, they only need approval from an on-duty Chicago Police Department (CPD) watch lieutenant, who is responsible for confirming that probable cause exists.
Since the pilot program launched in January, there have been 46 cases from 153 gun arrests, which is about one in four cases, according to 7th District Commander Lewis Courts.
Loizon said she is closely tracking those cases and that the numbers show that the pilot is working thus far. Of those, 30 have resulted in a preliminary hearing or an indictment.
During the public comment period, Jermaine Kelly, a 6th Ward resident and member of Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killing, countered that point. He added that it appears to be a personnel issue.
“I’m listening to you explain and it seems more like an inside problem than our problem,” Kelly said. “It seems like y’all need to do some more hiring for the people that’s going to handle those calls on a smaller level. Somebody needs to be hired to check those that get pushed down, cause that’s 40 families that are impacted by victimless crimes.”
However, Loizon said this new system streamlines the previous lengthy process. Courts echoed that sentiment, explaining that the program’s goal is to reduce violence and get officers back on the streets faster than they would be traditionally.
“So, this [felony bypass program] allows officers to get back out on the street and patrol the neighborhood, which is what we want and need them to do,” Courts said. “I believe it is a good program for what we’re trying to do.”
There’s also skepticism and concerns about transparency and accountability within CPD, given its history with misconduct, torture and wrongful convictions. They argue that the continuation of the program undermines due process, and will disproportionately impact Black people and lead to more incarceration, according to those who opposed the program, like McGill.
On April 4, the Cook County Public Defender’s Office released a statement raising its concerns about Burke’s bypass felony review program. In the statement, they described the felony review process as a “check on police authority.”
“Without this safeguard, individuals may be subjected to incarceration, job loss, housing instability, and family disruption — even in cases that are ultimately dismissed or found to lack sufficient evidence,” the statement reads.
In addition to the bypass felony review program, residents also aired their frustration with Burke’s office’s recent move to stop sending low-level, nonviolent gun possession cases to Cook County’s Restorative Justice Community Courts, or RJCC. Englewood is one of four county RJCCs.
“When gun cases were no longer allowed to come to the restorative justice court because of the State’s Attorney’s policy, this is part of the problematic part that we come to at this point,” said Cecile De Mello, executive director at Teamwork Englewood. “This is where things feel intentional and where we feel community wisdom is not being supported, and best practices are not being utilized.”
The post ‘Things feel intentional,’ Englewood residents frustrated with State’s Attorney Burke’s new felony review process on gun cases appeared first on The TRiiBE.
