Orland Park Board Members Pass Resolution Demanding Violent Offenders Be Held Accountable By Legal System

Orland Park IL

21 May, 2021

2:08 PM

Description

By Jon DePaolis, the Richard Free Press: ORLAND PARK, Ill. – Orland Park officials are taking a stand against repeat offenders of weapons arrests. The Village Board of Trustees voted 7-0 Monday, May 17, to pass a resolution honoring the rights of victims and demanding violent offenders be held on the maximum bail amount or punishment allowed by law. Orland Park Police Chief Joseph Mitchell told the board members on May 17 that the Orland Park Police Department has made 46 firearm arrests since the start of 2019. "This equates to a firearm arrest approximately once every two and a half weeks," Mitchell said. "In 2021, a firearm arrest has occurred once per week. The Orland Park Police Department is stopping more people that are armed with firearms." Mitchell said the types of firearms include ones with extended magazines and hollow-tip rounds. "Twenty-two percent of the gun offenders violated the terms of their release on bond by either committing a new offense while on bond or failing to appear in court," Mitchell said. "Two defendants violated their bond by committing an additional offense after failing to appear in court. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what is called 'catch and release,' and it puts my officers and every officer on the street at greater risk." During the discussion, Trustee Sean Kampas said that when Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx was elected, one of her stated goals was to reduce the population of the Cook County jail. "As our lead prosecutor, how might she achieve that goal?" he asked. "In the first three years, her office dismissed 25,000 felony cases. That amount is 35% more than her predecessor did. Nearly one-third of all felony charges — some of which include homicide, sex crimes and aggravated battery — are simply dropped. Chief Mitchell has shown us what that impact looks like for our community. It gets worse. The Cook County conviction rate is 11% lower than what was set by her predecessor." Kampas admitted that gun violence is a complex issue. "It's safe to say all of us, except for perhaps the criminals, are unified in our desire to address it," he said. "However, we sometimes allow our preferred solutions to cloud our judgment on what the root problem is and who the bad actors are. Those that disagree with one group's answer becomes another group's adversary. That's unfortunate, because meanwhile the criminals could not care less about the debate. They are winning. "We must recognize problems inherent in our system today if we are to have a chance on solving them. It takes three branches of government to keep our citizens secure. We are seeing clear failures in the executive, with prosecutors failing to carry cases through to their rightful conclusion. In the judicial, we are seeing bond and sentencing guidelines that are failing to curb future recidivism. "What good can the legislature do if the current laws are not enforced? Why do we look to them to solve these problems when we can clearly see the failures must be addressed in the other two branches?" Mayor Keith Pekau took issue with how the laws are currently being enforced. "Cook County, under this state's attorney, has an abysmal record of enforcing our laws," he said. "State legislators, their response to this is passing horrible laws like HB 3653. Now, they are working on more gun control laws. How about enforcing the laws that are already on the books? Let's try that first. "Until the State and County commit to locking up violent criminals to the fullest extent of the law and enforce existing weapons laws, everything else they do is kabuki theater and lip service." Pekau said "it is time to stop the madness and enforce the law." "It is not just gun laws that are not enforced," he said. "Just this last week, we arrested someone for a DUI. This person has one prior conviction and eight prior arrests. We can't get a felony charge because there are not enough prior convictions. Well, you'll never get enough prior convictions if you never charge anybody. "It's another example of favoring criminals and making law-abiding citizens less safe. It disgusts me, and it needs to stop." Richard Free Press is a one-stop destination for the news that most affects you, the southwest suburban resident. Be an informed citizen of the town you live in and love.