Data analysis lays out 10 facts about pre-trial Electronic Monitoring by Cook County Sheriff

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart challenges conclusions

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers have released a report, 10 Facts about Pretrial Electronic Monitoring in Cook County.

The report catalogs ten data-based facts about the Cook County Sheriff’s Electronic Monitoring (EM) Program to help the public understand the breadth of this program, who exactly is affected, and to make a determination as to whether it is worth the millions of dollars taxpayers spend each year to maintain it.

The report is described as a comprehensive analysis of public data from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) obtained through public sources, such as the CCSO’s website, and through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts.

The Appleseed/Chicago Council of Lawyers analysis examines who is confined, why they are confined, for how long, and whether they are rearrested while on electronic monitoring.

Full documentation and code used to generate the analysis in this report can be found here.

Cook County Sherif Tom Dart responds to Appleseed and Council of Lawyers report saying “more than 75% of those on electronic monitoring are facing violent charges, including 96 charged with murder, 131 charged with sexual assault, and 254 charged with armed habitual criminal

The Cook County Sheriff’s EM Program is growing, with people being surveilled longer than ever although most people do not violate pretrial conditions put in place by a judge. Our major findings show, among other things:

1. 1. The number of people incarcerated in Cook County Jail or on electronic monitoring has risen 23% since April 2020.
  2. Over 1,000 people have been on EM in Cook County for a year or more; 78% have been detained for over 3 months.
  3. Over 74% of the people on electronic monitoring (and in jail) are Black.
  4. Today, 83% of the people on EM in Cook County had to pay a money bond to leave jail. On average, 67% of people spend over 2 days in jail before getting out on electronic monitoring, threatening their jobs, school, family lives, and more.
  5. Data suggests that electronic monitoring has no meaningful effect on the likelihood of re-arrests or appearances in court.

But Cook County Sheriff Dart responded immediately to its release, challenging its data and emphasizing that “75% of those on electronic monitoring are facing violent charges, including 96 charged with murder, 131 charged with sexual assault, and 254 charged with armed habitual criminal.”

“The judiciary orders people to electronic monitoring, determines how long they stay in the program, and places restrictions on their movement. The report mirrors many of the complaints the Sheriff’s Office has had for years about how the program is used,” Dart’s statement said.

“The population on EM has grown significantly and it is not a solution for the very real public safety and criminal justice issues we face in Chicago. The truth is more than 75% of those on electronic monitoring are facing violent charges, including 96 charged with murder, 131 charged with sexual assault, and 254 charged with armed habitual criminal. The Sheriff’s Office does its best to operate an EM program that enforces court orders aimed at preventing new crimes and ensuring defendants don’t flee their criminal charges, while not being unduly restrictive. Allegations in this report that the Sheriff’s EM program routinely is excessively and unnecessarily punitive are simply baseless.”

The Cook County Sheriff’s Electronic Monitoring Program appears to perpetuate racial disparities in the criminal legal system and destabilize communities without a return for public safety. As Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst & Staff Attorney for Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Court and the Chicago Council of Lawyers explains: “In 2021, the budget appropriation for the Sheriff’s Community Corrections Department was $19,542,855 — even though data shows that people on electronic monitoring have the same very low chance of being rearrested while released pretrial as those who are released without electronic monitoring. It’s time we re-evaluate the way Cook County uses pretrial surveillance.”

The full report can be found and downloaded here:

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, a nonprofit advocacy organization, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a public interest bar association, work together in a Collaboration for Justice to promote fair, accessible, and anti-racist courts. Our collaborative work involves using data to help support community-based solutions to injustices in the courts, often in pretrial areas of the legal system, such as policing, prosecution, and public defense.

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart’s website is www.cookcountysheriff.org

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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