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Local law enforcement agencies should tap into state witness protection fund to help bring victim families closure
By Jeffery M. Leving SM
With a reported homicide closure rate of about 20% in Chicago, far too many families are waiting for justice for their loved ones and closure for their families.
While there are several reasons for the low closure rate, consider that in 2023, the closure rate for homicides involving firearms was about 40%, double the current rate, according to a recent report by WTTW.
Among the reasons cited is a systemic problem —currently the Chicago Police Department only has 7% of its sworn officers working as detectives, compared to almost 15% in Los Angeles and New York, according to the WTTW report. Additionally, the Chicago Police Department is reportedly undermanned, down about 1,700 officers from just four years ago.
While these two issues need to be addressed, there is another hurdle that is just as vital, ensuring witnesses to crimes are protected. To solve many crimes, the police need the help of community members. They often are vital witnesses and can be the difference between getting justice for a victim, or not with the perpetrator free to prey on others.
However, many of these witnesses are reluctant to speak to police, and especially afraid to testify in court, because of fear of retaliation. This fear is not unfounded, as there have been several homicides of witnesses in Chicago over the last few years, giving credence to a sad saying popular in some neighborhoods which is “snitches get stitches.”
Sadly, in some cases, some witnesses have received more than that, like Mutasim Sulieman, who in 2022 was allegedly murdered by a man to keep him from testifying against two other men who reportedly shot and killed a man in his store back in 2016.
There are other similar examples, and many result in other witnesses in other cases refusing to speak up, refusing to do what they know is the right thing. Frankly, people in those situations are often scared. While they may want to speak up and tell the authorities what they saw or heard, the fear of ending up being murdered is too often real.
In response to this type of intimidation, there have been calls for many years for the state or city to set up a witness protection program, much like the federal system has. Usually when a witness enters a witness protection program, their identity is changed, and they are relocated. Obviously, this type of program would not be relevant for most witnesses to crimes, but for violent crimes with unique circumstances, it could be the difference between justice or a continued reign of terror.
Unbeknownst to many, the calls for a witness protection program on the local level were actually answered in 2022 when the State of Illinois approved $30 million for such a program. The state approved the money and put the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority in charge of overseeing the program, which is called the Violent Crime Witness Protection Program. However, I feel the rollout has been slow as well as awareness about it.
In the first 8 months after the money was approved, not a single witness was relocated and only about $67,500 of the $30 million was spent and it was used primarily on employee-related expenses, according to a Chicago Tribune report. In fact, at that time, according to the Chicago Tribune report, the ICJIA was still figuring out how to administer the program.
Now, a year after that, it appears that the ICJIA has made a lot of progress and there is an opportunity for local law enforcement agencies, the office of the attorney general and local state’s attorney’s offices to apply for the funds online.
While it is not known if any applications for the funds have been made, I sincerely hope that our local law enforcement agencies are aware of this opportunity and do so. Additionally, Chicago should create its own witness protection program, as both a state and city program would be good for witnesses throughout Illinois and would ensure that more families get the justice for their loved one and the closure that they deserve.
Attorney Jeffery M. Leving is the recipient of President Biden’s Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.
Leving, who has dedicated his career to safeguarding children and reuniting them with their fathers, has written three acclaimed books: “Fathers’ Rights,” “Divorce Wars” and “How to be a Good Divorced Dad,” the latter of which was praised by President Obama and by Cardinal Francis E. George, then the Archbishop of Chicago.
Follow the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. on Facebook and X @DadsRights.
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