The Cook County state’s attorney on Tuesday publicly defended her office’s handling of the case involving the suspect in the Blue Line attack that left a woman with severe burns.
Eileen O’Neill Burke also wants to see changes to the electronic monitoring program to better protect the public.
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O’Neill Burke explained Tuesday that her office tried to keep the suspect, Lawrence Reed, locked up, but the judge instead placed Reed on electronic monitoring. Records show he repeatedly violated curfew, including on the day of the attack.
O’Neill Burke spoke about her first year in office as Cook County State’s Attorney to a packed house at the City Club.
She was interrupted at least twice by people in the crowd yelling at her.
Last month’s arson attack on a CTA Blue Line train has cast an unwanted spotlight on the justice system. Reed, who has 72 arrests and eight felony convictions, was placed on electronic monitoring after assaulting a hospital social worker in August. He is now in custody facing federal charges for arson.
“Well, we asked for detention, and we argued loudly for detention. The judge didn’t hold, but we did our job,” O’Neill Burke said.
Burke is now calling for improvements to the electronic monitoring system when someone violates the terms of their release, as Reid is accused of doing.
In April, the sheriff handed over responsibility for the program to the chief justice’s office, something O’Neill Burke says poses problems.
“The employees of the Chief Justice’s Office are pretrial services officers. They don’t do law enforcement, and they can’t go and arrest anyone,” O’Neil Burke said. “So yeah, I think we need to make sure there’s a law enforcement component if someone doesn’t comply so they have the ability to go and arrest them.”
New Chief Justice Charles Beach II, who was sworn in on Monday, announced Tuesday that he would form a committee to review the electronic monitoring program’s communication procedures.
“We are committed to a transparent, evidence-based review that strengthens accountability, improves coordination, and enhances public confidence in our judicial system,” he said.
Speaking at the City Club, O’Neill-Burke touted first-year successes in going after assault weapons and focusing more resources on helping victims of domestic violence.
She also explained that they would seek detention and imprisonment for any CTA attacks.
“If someone is a risk, I don’t want them to be subject to electronic monitoring,” O’Neill Burke said. “If we asked to hold them, the judges would say, ‘Well, I don’t want to hold them. But I’m not just going to release him. I’m going to put him on electronic monitoring. That’s a false equation. It makes people feel safe, and many of them are not safe,'” O’Neill Burke said.
O’Neill Burke also championed the SAFE-T Act, which got rid of cash bail. But she made clear that when her office believes someone poses a threat to public safety, it will make every effort to take that person into custody.