Ray Hanania
Plenty of half-truths about Safe-T Act
By Ray Hanania
I was on a business trip to meet my Middle East editors in Las Vegas this past weekend, and the questions about Chicago crime and even the Safe-T Act were coming at me from every direction.
The cab driver wondered if all hell had broken loose in Chicago under that “alien-looking mayor with the bug-eyes” (Lori) Lightfoot.
She certainly looks as crazy as her policies.
My editors were shocked by the weekly number of shootings and killings and wondering what happened to the Chicago police, and wasn’t I afraid living even out in the nearby suburbs?
Yes, I told them. Chicago is a “hellhole” as gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey has said, although he isn’t referring to the people but to the lawlessness that has consumed Chicago.
I told them Illinois is a predominantly Democratic state and that has a massive influence on the media’s lack of objectivity.
Daily Springfield gossip columns rely on subscriptions from the Democrats — their close lobbyist friends and pals — and businesses, so they downplay the responsibilities for Chicago crime and instead protect their lying and bullying Democratic lobbyist pals.
I added that the mainstream news media, which is based in Democratic-controlled Chicago, is also going to cover for them, too.
The Safe-T act is the biggest, most exploited and exaggerated legislation I have seen in 45 years of covering Chicagoland politics.
It’s not as bad as the Republican extremists are describing it and it is not as good as Daddy Warbucks Gov. JB Pritzker and his paid mouthpieces assert. But this law that was shoved through in the middle of the night back in January with no pushback from any responsible media, and that has delayed provisions that don’t begin until after the Nov. 8 elections, is little more than 800 pages of garbage.
It was pushed by the Black Caucus so they could go into their communities to tell their constituents — who are the biggest victims of this raging crime wave — that they are doing something to “restrain the police,” who the media has allowed to be portrayed as the bad guys in this tragedy.
Many legislatures went along with the bill in part because on its face, some of the provisions make sense. Why clog the already clogged criminal justice system in Cook County with minor low-level offenses (not crimes), first-time offenses that don’t involve injuring anyone or threatening anyone but involve petty theft?
Of course, our illustrious pro-criminal State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who has eased criminal accountability on the criminals, has blurred that line, so it’s really hard to tell who is or isn’t a petty thief these days.
Removing automatic cash bonds for suspects won’t allow “accused” rapists and murderers on the street. It makes judges decide. It’s not really explained very well in the Safe-T Act. The flaw is that you might have a judge — this is Cook County after all — who could allow an accused rapist or murderer to go free without cash bond, only to rape and murder again. It’s happened.
Another is preventing police from responding to electronic monitoring violations for 48 hours. The point is there are many trivial problems with electronic monitoring that waste police time. The Safe-T Act doesn’t address the real problem at all.
As for the Safe-T Act preventing police from arresting criminals who trespass on your property, the fear mongerers don’t say that the trespassing provision only applies to minor issues of trespassing that involve neighbors who file ridiculous and petty complaints everyday against the neighbors, dragging the police into these little squabbles. The police are not prohibited from responding to a trespasser who poses a real threat of violence or property damage.
This bill is being used to inflate far right Republican extremists going into the election who don’t care about truth, and who publish all kinds of lies and exaggerations in fake newspapers. A “fake newspaper” is one that doesn’t disclose the names of the people publishing or writing the articles. There’s no accountability.
Meanwhile, Gov. Daddy Warbucks has failed to explain the law, preferring instead to dish out cash to anyone he thinks he can enlist for support the way he bought his own election.
There are some good Democratic candidates and some good Republican candidates. Pritzker is not a good candidate. Despite his flawed response on abortion, Bailey is the best candidate for governor to address crime and protect law-abiding citizens.
Check out Ray Hanania’s columns and political podcasts at hanania.com.
3 Comments
Local News
Cinco de Mayo, here we come
Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 517-7796 . It’s time to bring out the Corona, Tecate, Modelo or Dos Equis, along with a few limes. Heck, maybe even bring out the Patrón! It is Cinco de Mayo this Sunday, translated to…
Softball | Jocelyn Hovanec scores two runs, Ks 12 in Chicago Christian win
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Chicago Christian is working to find its footing in the inaugural season of the Chicagoland Christian Conference. The Knights entered this week 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the CCC, putting them in fifth place with just two conference games to play among their final seven regular-season contests. The Knights…
Boys Volleyball | Chicago Christian finishes April strong, takes second at Ridgewood Invitational
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent A busy and largely successful final seven days of April saw Chicago Christian briefly climb back to the .500 mark after a tough first month of the season. The Knights (11-12, 4-4 Chicagoland Christian Conference) have won seven of their past 10 matches, all of which were played over…
Work moving forward at Marquette Park
Spread the love. Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 . In the March 29 edition of the Greater Southwest News-Herald, I wrote a story about a town hall meeting at Marquette Park, we learned of some of the upcoming plans the Park District has for…
Sophia Smith’s brace sinks Red Stars
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent Home has not been that sweet lately for the Chicago Red Stars. The team lost its second straight game at SeatGeek Stadium with a 2-0 setback to Portland in front of an announced crowd of 4,443 on April 27. Portland star Sophia Smith scored in the 10th and 26th…
Nazareth Academy celebrates ‘special talent’ J.J. McCarthy in NFL Draft
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Dennis Moran has no doubts that J.J. McCarthy – the former Nazareth Academy quarterback who is now with the Minnesota Vikings – will succeed in the National Football League. Moran was among about 60 or so Nazareth Academy fans, friends and coaches who gathered Thursday night at The Stadium Club…
Brother Rice names Al Perez next soccer coach
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Correspondent A few new coaches are dotting the area high school athletic scene. One of the more notable hires was Brother Rice bringing Al Perez aboard as the soccer coach. Perez led Chicago Public League power Washington to a Class 2A state championship in 2013, a fourth-place finish in 2015…
Police Council rallies to save ShotSpotter
Spread the love. By Alexis Bocanegra Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (773) 949-1509 • grcl.alex23@gmail.com . Chicago Lawn (8th) District Police Council members Mark Hamberlin, Al Cacciottolo and Jason Huff have created an online petition to save ShotSpotter. As you may have read in the Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound back in March, Mayor…
Capacity crowd speaks out against Evergreen Park dispensary
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Additional chairs had to be brought out to seat an overflow crowd of Evergreen Park residents who attended a meeting April 15 regarding a proposed cannabis dispensary for the village. And many who were in attendance voiced their opposition to having a dispensary in Evergreen Park. Most of the people cited…
Neighbors
Billions of cicadas get ready to raise a racket
Spread the loveBy Kelly White If you haven’t heard the buzz yet, you will soon. With 2024 marking a big year for periodical cicadas in Illinois, billions of the red-eyed buggers will soon be making an appearance. Periodical cicada broods XIII and XIX will be emerging throughout much of the state at the same time.…
‘A man of honor, a beacon of kindness’
Spread the love. Chicago weeps for Officer Luis Huesca . By Tim Hadac People across the Southwest Side shed tears earlier this week, as throngs of police officers and other filled the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel at 77th and Western for a funeral Mass for CPD Officer Luis M. Huesca. Officer Huesca was…
Archer Manor Little League starts its 2024 season
Spread the love. Sunny skies and mild temperatures greeted the boys and girls, moms and dads, umpires and coaches, and everyone else participating in Archer Manor Little League’s Opening Day parade and ceremonies at Archer Park. Since 1952, AMLL has provided athletic opportunities for thousands of boys and girls in Archer Heights, West Elsdon, Central…
Dread over car drifters on streets
Spread the love. Reckless drivers take over SW Side intersections . By Tim Hadac At the April meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, a police officer admitted that the drag racing/drifting phenomenon seen and heard in the Midway area in recent years “probably will increase, but we hope not.” The admission was triggered by…
Don’t raise pilots’ retirement age, García says
Spread the love. From staff reports U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th), senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently led a letter joined by 121 Members of Congress urging House Democratic leadership to reject any changes to the pilot retirement age in a final version of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill.…
CTA launches ‘chat’ feature on website
Spread the love. From staff reports Artificial Intelligence has made another step forward at the Chicago Transit Authority. CTA officials recently launched the “Chat with CTA” chatbot, a new virtual automated service featured on transitchicago.com. The communication tool allows riders to report issues, provide feedback and receive answers in real-time. Additionally, it provides the CTA with customer…
New effort to aid kids with disabilities
Spread the love. From staff reports A new grant program aimed at providing financial assistance to families of children with disabilities was launched recently by Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and Ada S. McKinley Community Services. Children with disabilities is a population disproportionately affected by the pandemic,…
Dart warns of Sheriff’s Office imposters
Spread the love. From staff reports Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart recently alerted the public of an uptick in telephone and email phishing scams in which scammers identify themselves as a Sheriff’s Office employee in an attempt to defraud victims. Scammers are using the actual names and respective titles of Sheriff’s Office employees to…
It’s ‘Batter up!’ time in West Lawn
Spread the love. Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 . It must be May because baseball season is here. I recently reported on the West Lawn Little League, whose 2024 season is now underway. Another West Lawn youth athletic association is Midway Baseball Softball Association. Their teams…
It is primarily a FINANCIAL issue, covered by criminal justice “palaver’.
Cook County released 4000 inmates from the 10,000 average daily census held in custody. Do the math.
–4000 x $160 per day cost of incarceration x 365 days is a LOT of taxpayer money.
The State of Illinois spends in excess of $32000 per inmate per year to incarcerate inmates.
Have we noticed an increase in crime in the last year in Cook County?
Shifting the costs of incarceration onto the personal and property rights and physical well-being of citizens and businesses is not the answer.
The “SafeT Act” is NOT safe.
The Act is a FINANCIAL measure for the State, not a “safety” issue.
Do the math:
4000 of 10,000 inmates at Cook Count Jail were release under “new” administrative guidelines.
A financial bonanza for Cook County, but NOT for the taxpayers.
4,000 x $160 cost PER inmate per DAY x 365 days is a lot of money.
So are increased crime rates, property damage, and injuries and deaths to innocent citizens.
Now, “let’s do it again” with State correctional and other criminal justice institutions?
Citizens should say “No” and say it NOW.
Sorry, Ray, but Darren Bailey is a terrible representative of the Republican party. He was kissing tRumpty-dumpty on the butt before the primary and now it’s Donald who? Please, send the high school track coach back to school.