IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK THE CITY AND STATE TO PROTECT POLICE, WITNESSES AND VICTIMS?

By Paul Vallas

May 1st, 2026

Will the shooting of two more Chicago Police Officers — one fatally — finally draw attention to the dramatic surge in attacks on law enforcement, an uptick the mainstream media has largely ignored? Is it really too much to ask that the City of Chicago take the necessary steps to protect not only police officers, but also other essential first responders such as paramedics and firefighters, as well as victims of and witnesses to crime whose cooperation is critical to solving crimes?

Since the Consent Decree was imposed on the Chicago Police Department in 2017, and amid the post-George Floyd narrative that casts police as the problem and criminals as victims, attacks on police have increased dramatically. At the same time, there has been a sharp decline in police shootings and in the number of COPA-validated excessive-force complaints, which reportedly fell to just 4 percent last year. These statistics suggest police are not merely exercising unprecedented restraint but retreating from proactive policing which is essential to effective public safety.

This data is largely ignored by the mainstream media, while the “Criminal Industrial Complex” — trial lawyers, consent decree consultants, and so-called police reform advocates — profit from perpetuating a false narrative of a racist police department resistant to reform. Overlooked is the reality that Chicago police face increasingly dangerous conditions, while witnesses and victims are increasingly intimidated by offenders released pretrial.

Thousands of residents live in fear and are often terrorized by violent habitual offenders who are on the streets because of pretrial release and are reluctant to help police because they fear retaliation. CWB Chicago has reported nearly 20 percent of those arrested and charged with felonies were out on pretrial release awaiting trial on another felony charge. Since 2020, there have been 467 arrests of people charged with murder or attempted murder while on pretrial release.

The Cook County Electronic Monitoring program (EM) has failed residents miserably by allowing thousands of felons, including those charged with  crimes as severe as murder, attempted murder, domestic violence and weapons charges, returned to the streets prior to appearing in court. The habitual criminal arrested for the shooting two police officers — one fatally — at Swedish Memorial Hospital was on EM despite being a repeat felon with four pending felony cases. He, like many others, eluded EM, and it cost one police officer his life and left another clinging to life.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart abruptly terminated the disastrous 30-year electronic monitoring program which he had managed incompetently and had been a source of continual political embarrassment. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle , in an effort to continue the program, transferred administering the program to the ill equipped Chief Judge of the Court and to a shortened Chicago Police Department who replaced the Sheriffs police.

Is it really too much to ask that the city take meaningful steps to protect police officers, other essential workers, and the witnesses and victims of crime? Governor JB Pritzker should call a special session of the Illinois General Assembly to address violent crime and require the state legislature to amend the SAFE-T Act to mandate the detention of dangerous and habitual criminals including detention and mandatory sentencing for anyone who attacks a police officer or threatens or retaliates against a witness or victim.

Action on violent crime should not be limited to Springfield. The City of Chicago should also establish a comprehensive witness and victim protection program, recruiting retired police officers with investigative experience to support the under-resourced Bureau of Detectives in building cases and safeguarding witnesses. Funding could come from asset forfeitures, fines, and enforcement of nuisance ordinances that hold individuals financially accountable for property damage, public endangerment, and disruption of commerce.

Chicago can and should exercise its Home Rule authority to enact local ordinances “for the protection of public health, safety, morals, and welfare,” as permitted under Article VII of the Illinois Constitution, so long as they are not preempted by state law. This authority includes the power to prosecute violations of city ordinances.

Such measures could address crimes including domestic violence, weapons violations, threats against witnesses and victims, and offenses against police officers. They could also cover possession of stolen vehicles, robbery, burglary, theft, and retail theft. The city could take an even more aggressive approach to firearms violations by imposing substantial fines, ensuring that illegal gun possession carries consequences when other jurisdictions fail to act.

Revenue generated from these measures could fund a comprehensive witness and victim protection infrastructure, including expanded shelter and crisis intervention services. While murders and attempted murders have declined, incidents tied to domestic violence continue to rise. In response, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has established a Special Victims Bureau to manage cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, hate crimes, and other crimes against vulnerable populations.

The City Public Safety Act must include the creation of a “City Case Review Unit” in the City Law Department to review prosecutors’ and judges’ controversial decisions on charging, pretrial release, and sentencing in violent crimes, weapons, and conspiracy cases. Why not? Both the state and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office have had “Integrity Unit” structures that focused on legitimacy of convictions for criminals, not victims of crime. It is not out of the question to establish a unit to ensure public transparency and political accountability for judges’ bad decisions that hurt victims.

The City Case Review Unit would also help address longstanding transparency gaps, particularly those stemming from exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act that shield parts of the county’s criminal justice system, including the Office of the Chief Judge and its programs, from public scrutiny. Recall the fight between then Chief Judge Evans and former Clerk of the Court Irene Martinez over her demand that data on pretrial release and orders of protection be released.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and his supporters have been silent on escalating violence against Chicago Police, the impact pretrial release may be having on witnesses and victims, and on the need to hold Cook County judges responsible for their reckless decisions. If Mayor Johnson and the City Council want to regain the confidence of residents hit hardest by violent crime, aldermen must make the protection of police officers, witnesses, and victims a paramount priority.

Police officers who risk their lives daily in an increasingly dangerous environment deserve not only our gratitude, but our protection as well. Just as officers deserve protection, witnesses and victims who come forward to help bring offenders to justice should be afforded the same consideration and protections. There must be zero tolerance for threats against either, and it must be embedded in the SAFE-T Act while the city asserts its own home rule powers to ensure greater accountability. Both officers and witnesses deserve to know their government has their back.

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Paul Vallas formerly ran the public school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Louisiana Recovery School District. He was a candidate for Mayor of Chicago.

Comments 1

  1. Thank you so much Paul for outlining the major issues the city and state face, giving the data, and providing detailed plans for improvement. I’ve criticized your personality, affect, thin skin, but I’d vote for you tomorrow for any office if given the chance.

    The fact that you’re telling the truth dooms you unfortunately. Pritzker has bought the state. Educated people tell me he’s doing a good job and should be president. I don’t know how anyone in good conscience could say that, but he’s bought off all the big public employee unions, and they’ll sell us down the river to protect their good pay and generous benefits as people are forced to out of their homes and having trouble even feeding their families.

    Trump, as flawed as he is, was the right choice in 2024. I shudder to think what 4 more years of Sleepy Joe and Mayorkas would have done to this nation. Tucker Carlson gave a great monologue about all elites, Republican Neocons as well, who have a disdain for working people. I think our political, educational and financial elites all have this in common. They won’t line up behind you because they have allegiances that contradict the well being our city and state.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene, fresh out of Congress, has detailed the hypocrisy, the lies, and the treasonous behavior of our Congress, bought and paid for by special interests. Some even have dual citizenship. This shoiuld not be allowed.

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