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Chicago Police Department v. Kim Foxx


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City Journal

When prosecutors won’t prosecute, what can cops do?

 

Yet again, the Chicago Police Department finds itself at loggerheads with State’s Attorney Kim Foxx about charging a criminal with a crime. First, it was low-level crimes that Foxx declined to prosecute. Then it was celebrity nonsense, with the Jussie Smollett hate-crime hoax. Next, it was the murder of a little girl. And now, it’s a deadly gang shootout. The larger issue is whether the police (and the public) have any options when a prosecutor refuses to prosecute, even when the evidence for guilt seems overwhelming.

On August 15, seven-year-old Serenity Broughton was sitting in the backseat of a car with her six-year-old sister. A gunman blasted away at someone near the car, killing Serenity and critically wounding her sister. Even in a city as violent as Chicago, the death of a little girl hit home. Chicago PD detectives worked around the clock and built a case against a suspect. But Foxx’s office declined to arrest the suspect and attempted instead to cast blame on police by implying that their investigation was deficient. Meantime, five participants in a gunfight that killed one person were released from custody this week, with Foxx reportedly citing “mutual combat” as the reason for dropping the case.

What can police do when a prosecutor won’t prosecute?

Most major felony charges require the approval of prosecutors. In Broughton’s case, the Chicago PD used an “emergency override” procedure to arrest and charge the suspect without prosecutor approval. But Foxx would not let that stand. She called the police chief, and the arrested suspect was un-arrested. Even if Foxx had not succeeded in freeing the suspect at that point, she would have done so at the first official hearing. That rules out one option for the police to make charging decisions in defiance of Foxx.:snip:

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A Wild West shootout terrorizes Austin(Chicago) in broad daylight and not one suspect is charged?

Many aldermen are furious over the handling of a brazen gunfight in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood on Friday in which the suspects walked away without a single criminal charge being filed.

We entirely understand. In a city where authorities should be doing everything to quell a surge in violence, there’s a shoot-out like at the OK Corral, an entire block is endangered and several obvious suspects are detained.

And then nothing.

This was a shocking incident, even in a city that seems increasingly inured to daily violence, caught on video and described by one source as “just like the Wild West.” More than 70 shell casings were found, and many more shots likely were fired. Police apparently arrived in time to witness at least part of the shootout.

Who can blame anybody for asking: “If charges can’t be filed in a case like this, when can they?”:snip:

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4 hours ago, Geee said:

What can police do when a prosecutor won’t prosecute?

It's Chicago, surely there are some cops out there who'd trade "looking the other way" for a "drive-by" of Foxx's home.

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