COOK COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY EXPANDS PILOT PROGRAM TO STREAMLINE CHARGING PROCESS FOR LOW-LEVEL GUN POSSESSION CASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 4, 2025
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COOK COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY EXPANDS PILOT PROGRAM TO STREAMLINE CHARGING PROCESS FOR LOW-LEVEL GUN POSSESSION CASES
More efficient charging process gets police officers back on the street sooner
All bypass cases to date have withstood legal scrutiny
CHICAGO – Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling today announced the expansion of a successful pilot program that streamlines the charging process for lower-level felony gun cases, easing a significant strain on police and prosecutor resources across Chicago.
The pilot was initially launched in January at the Chicago Police Department’s 007th District (Englewood), and enables responding police officers, in consultation with their supervisors, to file certain common, nonviolent felony gun possession charges directly instead of waiting for CCSAO felony review approval. Based on positive results from the 007th District, where all bypass cases have thus far withstood legal scrutiny, the pilot is expanding to CPD’s 005th Police District (Calumet), effective this morning.
“The Felony Review Bypass Program is an effort to address a longstanding bottleneck in Cook County’s criminal justice system and lets police and prosecutors more effectively marshal resources toward violent crime and obtaining justice for victims of crime,” State’s Attorney Burke said. “These are straightforward gun possession cases that nevertheless can take hours to get through felony review. Rather than take a police officer off the beat while awaiting a felony review callback, this program equips them with the tools and training to file appropriate charges directly and get back on the street. It also allows felony review prosecutors to focus on the most serious crimes, which are labor intensive. We are encouraged by the results we’ve seen already and will continue monitoring the program to ensure charging decisions always meet the highest legal and ethical standards.”
Before the pilot launched, senior CCSAO policy and felony review unit leadership conducted 12 in-person training at 007th and now 005th district rollcalls, where all officers and command staff received extensive instruction on the legal criteria for each of the eligible charges. The three eligible charges are:
- Unlawful possession of a weapon;
- Unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon; and
- Aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon.
All cases included in the program are tracked and reviewed by prosecutors as they progress through the courts. As an additional layer of scrutiny, CPD’s protocol also requires the arresting officer to send case information to the on-duty watch lieutenant for review and approval on a charging recommendation. Prosecutors then receive the case and review it before it is presented in front of a judge at a preliminary hearing, or in front of a grand jury. Police officers also have the opportunity to consult with felony review for legal guidance before filing charges.
"The Felony Review Bypass Program creates a more efficient process that returns officers to the streets more quickly when processing offenders on simple firearm possession charges," Superintendent Snelling said. "The expansion of this program to the 005th District speaks to the success of the program’s pilot as both CPD and the Cook County State’s Attorney work to hold criminal offenders accountable in a timely manner.”
Felony review is largely unique to Illinois and remains a critical and time-tested component of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office – by far the largest prosecutor’s office in the country to employ the practice. The felony review unit operates around the clock to evaluate evidence and determine the appropriateness of felony charges in serious criminal cases. Prosecutors assigned to the unit collaborate closely with law enforcement to assess the strength of evidence, ensuring that only well-substantiated cases proceed to trial.
Bypassing felony review has precedent in Cook County, however. For at least two decades, most felony narcotics cases have been handled in this manner, with local police directly filing charges without the requirement to contact felony review.
Because cases sent to felony review are prioritized based on the seriousness of the offense, officers looking to charge lower-level gun cases sometimes end up waiting hours for a call-back. Unlike more serious crimes (including murder, aggravated battery, and sexual assault) where felony review personnel will travel to the police district to evaluate evidence and potentially talk to witnesses, gun possession cases are addressed over the phone.
Since its implementation in January through April 2nd, 007th District police have charged 43 cases through the bypass program. To date, all 30 cases that have reached the preliminary hearing stage or were presented before a grand jury have advanced. Thirteen additional cases are still pending. At least seven of 43 weapons confiscated through bypass arrests have been linked to previous criminal activity, including one murder, through forensic testing.
Both the 005th and 007th Districts are among the city’s busiest and stand to benefit significantly from the more efficient charging process. Since the first of the year, the 007th District had 63,628 calls for police service, the highest rate of calls per 100,000 residents compared with the city’s other police districts, according to data maintained by the Chicago Office of Inspector General. The 005th District also ranks high, with 54,683 calls for service.
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