Legislator critical of criminal justice policies amid Chicago robberies

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure is pointing fingers at some of what he sees as being at least partly responsible for a string of early morning business burglaries now gripping Chicago.

Chicago police recently issued a crime alert after as many as 10 businesses were hit within a month’s time. In such cases, two to four suspects used a crowbar-like tool to bust through front doors and walk away with whatever valuables they find, including store cash registers.

“There’s no question that we have seen a surge of crimes ever since the SAFE-T Act was put into place,” McClure, a former state prosecutor, told The Center Square. “The first reason is because it caused a lot of people to leave law enforcement, and we lost a lot of good officers. The second reason is because it emboldened criminals.”

McClure, R-Springfield, said the end of cash bail statewide has criminals feeling like there aren’t any consequences if they decide to break the law.

“The SAFE-T Act has really driven up dangerous situations that are continuing to this day,” McClure said.

With store bandits in some cases striking establishments just minutes apart, investigators say stores in Avondale, Edison Park, South Loop and Lake View were all hit. In each case, investigators say the suspects struck no later than 6:30 a.m. and in most instances escaped in a stolen gray or silver Infinity four-door sedan.

In the Edison Park robbery, police say the suspects pulled a gun on the owner and his wife when they arrived while the thieves were still inside.

Passed in 2021, the Illinois Safety Accountability Fairness and Equity Today Act mandates the end of the cash bond system and limits pre-trial detention for certain felony crimes. The Pretrial Fairness Act portion of the SAFE-T Act was enacted in 2023.

McClure said the new law has made life tougher for virtually every Illinois resident.

“What business wants to move to Illinois when they see if they’re going to sell things, that shop could be ransacked at any moment by a group of people coming in to just steal things and damage property so they can go make money off of goods that are owned by somebody else,” he said. “It’s a deterrent for people coming here and it’s caused us to lose a lot of stores, and it’s caused a lot of stores to not expand anymore.”

In a statement supporting the end of money bond in Illinois, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice said the new system is working.

“Most people on pretrial release are succeeding,” the group said in a news release unrelated to warnings of burglaries. “In the two years since the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect, 94% of the more than 128,000 people released pretrial have not been charged with new offenses against a person.”

The group points to a report from The Pretrial Fairness Act Dashboard, a cumulative summary of initial decision points for criminal cases filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County since enactment of the Pretrial Fairness Act. That report also shows 17% of criminal defendants have been charged with a new misdemeanor or felony offense while on pretrial release.