By a vote of 16-1, the Cook County Board passed a resolution Monday out of the Criminal Justice Committee that moves to defund the Cook County Sheriff's Office. The lone dissenting vote was from Commissioner Sean Morrison who pointed to three main points for his opposition.
- The resolution castigated all law enforcement as inherently racist.
- The resolution does not substantively address the issue of police misconduct.
- The resolution jeopardizes funding for policing of suburban communities.
Commissioner Morrison went onto to add that now is not the time to consider defunding law enforcement, especially with the staggering increase in violent crime this year. He noted the recent data from the Chicago Police Dept. which reported 31 murders from July 6 to July 12 – a 417 percent increase from the 6 murders recorded during the same time last year, statistics show. The city saw 116 homicides during the most recent 28-day period, compared to the 41 reported in 2019.
"There's too much politics surrounding the 'Defund the Police' movement. We need to be focused on saving lives right now. My primary concern is for the most vulnerable communities who will see less police protection which means more crime, more violence, and sadly, more tragedy," said Commissioner Morrison.
Morrison also provided the Violence Against Children data from the Chicago Police Dept. which listed 203 Children Shot and 35 Children Killed since January 1, 2020 in the city of Chicago.
Morrison concluded his remarks by highlighting recent polling numbers in his suburban 17th District which showed an overwhelming majority of residents (80%) opposed ‘Defunding the Police’.
