Chicago is once again breaking its own records, reaching a six-year high in violent crime in 2023. The city also led the nation in overall murders (dismally, for the 12th year in a row), murders of school-age children, and mass shootings. One of the biggest reasons for the ever-worsening violence is a near-complete breakdown in the state criminal-justice system. To arrest these alarming trends, Chicago should enact a local public safety ordinance.
While yearly murders and shootings were down in Chicago through the end of 2023, the city’s murder rate remains five times that of New York City’s. And violent crime continues to climb in practically every other category. Domestic violence data show 13,917 female victims of violent crimes in 2023, a 16 percent rise over the prior three-year average. Since 2020, hate crimes have surged 275 percent, including a 74 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League—the worst result since it began keeping records in 1979.
And crime is likely underreported. From the beginning of former mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration in May 2019 to June 2022, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) shrank by more than 1,600 police officers, or about 12 percent. For more than half of “high priority” 911 calls, no police cars are available to respond; in 2019, that share was 19 percent. Many of these calls don’t show up in the crime statistics, to say nothing of the calls that aren’t made because of the unresponsiveness of the 911 system.
Kim Foxx, the Cook County state’s attorney, deserves much of the blame. Over the course of her tenure, she has significantly reduced the rate of felony cases approved for criminal charges and increased the rejection rate for felony charges. CWBChicago data show that as many as one in six people arrested for murder or attempted murder were out on felony bail at the time. Many were habitual offenders. Foxx also refuses to charge suspects for felony retail theft unless the items stolen exceeded $1,000 in value—and sometimes not even then.
Fortunately, Chicago need not depend on state law and feckless state’s attorneys. Article VII, Section 6(a) of the Illinois constitution confers on home-rule municipalities like Chicago the broad power to regulate—that is, to legislate—“for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare,” limited only by subjects expressly preempted by the state. In other words, Chicago can prosecute any infraction not expressly barred or superseded by state law.
Local lawmakers could use this authority to enact a “Chicago Public Safety Act.” Under Illinois’ home rule, penalties for violating local ordinances can result in misdemeanors with jail sentences as long as 364 days, as well as fines and terms of probation. Ordinances can criminalize weapons violations, possession of stolen vehicles, robbery, burglary, and retail theft. “City nuisance provisions” can protect public order and deter antisocial behavior. State law has not expressly preempted municipal laws on these offenses. In cases where municipal and state law deal with the same subject matter, officers can choose to pursue either state or city charges.
Chicago could then assign a dedicated attorney to handle these new municipal-violation arrests. In the past, a city attorney was always assigned to the misdemeanor branch courts in Cook County to handle municipal violation arrests. The city could restore this position, tasking him with prosecuting violations of the new municipal public safety statute when the state’s attorney elects not to prosecute.
Violent criminals could thus be removed from the streets for up to a year, a consequence far more serious than many receive today. (State judges habitually grant offenders minimum sentences that result in less than a year in prison due to parole.) While this wouldn’t directly address the issues of pretrial release and no-cash bail, fair and consistent municipal convictions would remove the most violent individuals from city streets, leaving fewer to instigate and respond to gang-related shootings. The murder rate should fall.
Lesser offenses would also come with meaningful penalties, including fines and appropriate jail time. The nuisance provisions would empower police to arrest and impose heavy fines on individuals or groups obstructing the public way, damaging public and private property, and harassing or threatening city residents. Rioters, looters, flash mobs, and other inciters of civil unrest could be arrested, charged, and jailed for an appropriate time to deter similar behavior. Cops would also have a reason to arrest and incapacitate violent and disorderly individuals, potentially reversing the morale-driven decline in the number of police officers.
In fact, this approach would mirror Chicago’s zealous enforcement of motor-vehicle violations like running red lights, speeding, and parking ordinances. Chicago issued 2.8 million speed-camera tickets in 2021, more than the city’s population.
Finally, the public-safety ordinance could include the creation of a “Public Safety Transparency Unit” in the Chicago Law Department. Transparency Unit lawyers and data analysts would review and make available to the public controversial decisions by prosecutors and judges—for example, decisions on charging, pretrial release, and sentencing data in cases involving serious violence, weapons, and conspiracy. The public deserves to know all about the decisions that flood their communities with dangerous repeat offenders. The law would respect privacy rights by redacting personally identifiable information where legally required.
Chicago’s experiences over the past decade prove that it can’t depend on ideologically extreme state officials like Foxx to achieve public safety. It’s time for the city to restore the rule of law by setting expectations that there will be consequences for those who threaten life, liberty, and property.
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