GOP calls for changes to SAFE-T Act, Pritzker questions judge’s electronic monitoring ruling

Republican legislative leaders are demanding changes to the SAFE-T Act in the wake of the shooting of two Chicago police officers, one fatally.

Ever since Illinois became the first state to end cash bail, the law has been heavily scrutinized. This time, the debate centers around 27-year-old Alphanso Talley, charged with shooting and killing a Chicago police officer while he was awaiting trial in another felony case. He had been placed on electronic monitoring in that case, according to prosecutors.

Under the SAFE-T Act, it’s largely up to judges to decide who gets locked up, as judges either decide to detain or not detain defendants in cases. House Republicans have introduced 40 bills to make changes to the law.

On Wednesday, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, and Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, advocated for a new proposal meant to keep offenders from committing another crime while they already have a pending case.

“The question is no longer if reform is needed, it’s how many more tragedies need to happen before action is taken place,” McCombie said.

Under their proposal, if someone is out on electronic monitoring and commits another felony, the judge must revoke their release and keep them in jail until their case is finished.

“We need better laws. We need better rules. This decision never should have been in front of this judge. It should have already been a mandatory hold,” Curran said.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he would look at the GOP bill, but in Talley’s case, he believes the judge made a mistake.

“It’s a tragedy what’s happened. Awful. And as you’ve seen in most of the cases where Republicans have complained about the SAFE-T Act it’s actually been a bad decision by an elected judge,” Pritzker said.

Alexa Van Brunt, clinical professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, said the SAFE-T Act has largely been a success.

“We have seen low crime rates, even as fewer people are getting detained statewide. We see in Cook County that 94% of people on pretrial release are not committing future criminal offenses while they’re out,” Van Brunt said.

One failure she sees is the lack of statewide data collection that could show how the law is working across different counties.

As for electronic monitoring, she said usage has gone up since the SAFE-T Act went into effect and doesn’t see that as a positive change.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said Tuesday it’s not an alternative to detention.

“Electronic monitoring system is broken. It does not work. It is not keeping people safe,” O’Neill Burke said.

Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach said he takes concerns about electronic monitoring seriously, and his office worked to strengthen protocols in January. His office will not comment further on the specifics of the case.