At Issue: Crime Fighting And Funding
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An outspoken suburban police official says some of the policies Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is putting in place is helping to dismantle the criminal justice system, not reform it.
WBBM Newsradio's political editor Craig Dellimore reports.
The Riverside Police Chief, Tom Weitzel, says he and other suburban police officials absolutely feel Cook County should have enough funds to hire all the prosecutors it needs. However, he says, they are dismayed by Foxx saying her office won't prosecute retail thefts under a $1,000 and some other lower level crimes.
"I hear over and over again from the State's Attorney Office, from our elected officials, our county elected officials, our state elected officials that there is need for criminal justice reform," Weitzel said. "But there's no criminal justice funding going along with this reform, so as far as I'm concerned, it's just a dismantlement of the current criminal justice system."
Foxx says she's redirecting more prosecutors to violent crimes. Chief Weitzel says he understands, but suburban law enforcement is being shortchanged.