A recently released report sheds light on the number of individuals who have gone missing while under electronic monitoring in Cook County. The Cook County State’s Attorney provided these figures just weeks after declaring the system to be flawed.
According to the report from Cook County’s chief judge, 8% of those on electronic monitoring have absconded. This disclosure aims to increase transparency regarding the program following several violent incidents involving monitored individuals.
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The report indicates that out of 3,048 participants in the program, 244 individuals with pending criminal cases, likely involving felony charges, are not adhering to the monitoring rules.
Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II emphasized on Tuesday, “The public deserves to understand how this program functions, what the data reveals, and the steps we are taking daily to enhance its effectiveness.”
The release of this data follows requests made after the tragic April 25 shooting of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew and the injury of his partner, who were guarding a suspect at Swedish Hospital.
Prosecutors have charged Alphonso Talley, a felon with four pending felony cases, who had evaded electronic monitoring in April, with the shooting of the officers. At the time, the Cook County State’s Attorney criticized the program’s shortcomings.
“Electronic monitoring system is broken. It does not work,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said at the time.
Beach has redefined a “major violation” as an unapproved absence of three hours or more, down from the previous threshold of 48 hours. And his office said just 4% of program participants were considered AWOL before the new protocols took effect on Jan. 28 but noted that the definition of AWOL was more lenient then.
READ MORE | Swedish Hospital shooting: Man faces judge who put him on electronic monitoring before cop’s murder
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