Update from Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins – Chairman of the Committee on Public Safety for the 2023-2027 term.
Dear Neighbors,
Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke and her office are spearheading a renewed focus on mitigating chronic retail theft after years of leniency from the previous administration.
In the spirit of that renewed focus, I had the honor of joining the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) along with other officials this week to hear from a group of retailers hardest hit by chronic retail theft and criminal recidivists in the downtown and near north communities.
It was clear from their urgent accounts that retail theft is not only not “harmless” or “victimless” — but, in fact, one of the most serious classifications of crime in our city right now. In most cases, chronic retail theft leads to violence against vulnerable employees, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in lost merchandise per incident, faltering confidence on the part of investors to do business in Chicago, and additional cascading negative effects.
Retailers shared how employees refuse to take certain shifts out of fear for their safety, with one retailer describing an incident that led to their hospitalization and subsequent surgeries after being battered by a recidivist…simply for asking the individual to leave their store.
I commend State’s Attorney O’Neill Burke on her efforts to prosecute these crimes, but her office alone cannot address the issue entirely. I am calling on the state legislature to make the relevant amendments to the SAFE-T act to address chronic retail theft as the serious issue it is. We cannot allow chronic recidivists to keep being released to commit repeat crimes almost daily.
I will be communicating updates on this matter in this newsletter in the near future.
Sincerely,
Brian Hopkins
Alderman, 2nd Ward
