Committee on Public Safety meeting, June 9, 2026
- When: Tue, Jun 9, 2026, 11:30 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Reconvened
- Committee: Committee on Public Safety
- Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8928579?video=1195715133
- Transcript: full text (35,592 words, automatic captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Public Safety held two back-to-back meetings. The first was a subject matter hearing on a resolution sponsored by Alderwoman Silvana Tabares on Cook County court operations, focusing on outstanding warrants, orders of protection, and electronic monitoring, with testimony from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, the Cook County Public Defender's Office, and the Chicago Police Department; the Sheriff's Office, Chief Judge's Office, and Circuit Court Clerk did not attend. The second meeting heard public comment, then approved by voice vote a substitute ordinance from Alderman Gilbert Villegas on enhanced penalties for offenses in student safety zones, parks, and playgrounds, and an ordinance from Alderman Anthony V. Napolitano donating surplus Chicago Police Bomb Squad explosive storage magazines to the Waukegan Fire Department. The committee then held a subject matter hearing on gunshot detection technology (ShotSpotter) and related procurement, hearing presentations from a University of Chicago professor and a Manhattan Institute fellow and questioning procurement officials; no action was taken on that item.
Topics: warrants, orders of protection, electronic monitoring, Pretrial Fairness Act, Cook County courts, school safety zones, cannabis street sales, bomb squad equipment transfer, ShotSpotter, technology procurement
Agenda items discussed
- 51:35 Subject matter hearing on resolution calling for a hearing on Cook County Court system operations, outstanding warrants, orders of protection, and electronic monitoring: discussed
- 2:58:03 Substitute ordinance amending the Municipal Code regarding enhanced penalties for offenses committed in student safety zones, parks, and playgrounds: passed
- 3:21:40 Ordinance authorizing donation of surplus explosive storage magazines to the City of Waukegan Fire Department: passed
- 3:26:19 Subject matter hearing on ShotSpotter, the records management system, and the computer-aided dispatch system: discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Brian Hopkins (chair): Stated the committee invited all expected participants and that the Sheriff's Office offered to respond in writing to inquiries through the chair. (56:43); Asked committee members to stay on topic, stating ICE was not a subject of the hearing. (2:16:49); Stopped a line of questioning to the State's Attorney's Office, saying questions must be germane to the resolution on electronic monitoring, pretrial detention, and warrants. (2:20:28)
- Silvana Tabares (alderperson): Opened the hearing on warrants, protective orders, and GPS monitoring, citing a reported 53% decline in domestic murders in 2026 and a lack of transparency from the Cook County court system. (52:01); Said the task force was told there are 72,000 outstanding court warrants and that almost half of orders of protection are not served. (53:26); Said data promised by the Clerk of the Circuit Court had not been received and would be shared with the committee when it arrives. (56:12)
- Chris Taliaferro (alderperson): Asked the chair to name all organizations invited to the hearing and which declined to attend. (57:27); Asked whether the school safety zone ordinance applies only to cannabis sales to minors or also to sales between adults. (3:04:54)
- Maria E. Hadden (alderperson): Asked the State's Attorney's and Public Defender's offices what reforms or resources could improve service of orders of protection and warrants. (1:25:42); Asked whether the gap in law enforcement notification for serious electronic monitoring violations can be fixed by county action or requires state legislation. (1:31:54)
- Brendan Reilly (alderperson): Raised concerns about language in the Public Defender's written testimony describing most tragic cases as involving people initially charged with minor offenses. (1:36:57); Cited a reported case of a person on electronic monitoring charged with sexual assaults on CTA trains despite an order to stay off transit. (1:38:35); Cited figures attributed to the chief judge that about 20% of electronic monitoring participants face violent felony charges and roughly 8% are classified as AWOL. (1:40:00)
- Matthew J. Martin (alderperson): Suggested exploring joint hearings between City Council and the Cook County Board on overlapping issues. (1:45:13); Asked about Chief Judge Beach's policy for expedited execution of warrants by the Sheriff's Office. (1:45:56); Asked how law enforcement is notified of significant electronic monitoring violations. (1:47:24)
- Andre Vasquez Jr. (alderperson): Said Officer Bartholomew was killed in his ward and that his questions were mainly for the Office of the Chief Judge about how determinations are made. (1:58:30); Asked whether there is precedent for the Office of the Chief Judge testifying before a legislative body. (1:59:27); Supported a joint City-County hearing and asked what data portals and tools are available to view pretrial and order of protection data. (1:59:59)
- Jessica L. Fuentes (alderperson): Asked whether State's Attorney policies mandating detention requests make it harder for judges to know when prosecutors see a real safety concern. (2:04:36); Asked why the State's Attorney's Office says people who violate electronic monitoring cannot be arrested when courts can issue warrants. (2:08:00); Asked whether the State's Attorney's Office has considered another jurisdiction's approach to charging federal immigration agents. (2:12:01)
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (alderperson): Said she wants more discussion of gaps in electronic monitoring, such as low batteries or broken devices, that do not call on law enforcement first, and supported data transparency. (2:17:24); Asked whether it serves public safety to use entry into the justice system as a path to treatment for people with substance use, mental health, and housing needs. (2:18:33); Asked about the State's Attorney's Office charging a homeless man with felony murder after a firefighter died responding to a fire. (2:19:22)
- Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (alderperson): Said many cases cited in the hearing involved mental health issues and that people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. (2:21:35); Asked whether electronic monitoring distinguishes people who need mental health assistance to reintegrate. (2:22:59); Asked the State's Attorney's representative to confirm that the Pretrial Fairness Act makes the release process more thorough than prior bond hearings. (2:27:14)
- Gilbert Villegas (alderperson): Said the city is addressing an issue that should have been handled in Springfield and described open-air cannabis sales in his ward for about 10 years. (2:58:24); Explained the substitute removes drug paraphernalia and narcotics-related loitering, adds a first-violation penalty of community service or restorative justice, and increases judicial discretion. (3:01:14); Referred to photos of daily drug sales near a school and an incident involving an AK-47 as reasons for urgency. (3:02:18)
- Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Asked how many places would be covered by the ordinance at 1,000 feet and whether doubling it would cover the whole city. (3:07:41); Asked whether CPS supports the ordinance. (3:09:14); Asked whether CPS voluntarily shares outdoor camera video with CPD and said CPS requires a warrant for it. (3:12:46)
- Derrick G. Curtis (alderperson): Asked whether the zone covers the entire boundaries of a school or park and whether it applies only when they are open. (3:18:32); Asked why the city would not own data from a company it pays for gunshot detection services. (3:59:06)
- Anthony V. Napolitano (alderperson): Presented the transfer of surplus explosive storage magazines from the CPD Bomb Squad to the Waukegan Fire Department Bomb Squad at no cost to the city. (3:21:51); Said agencies should share intelligence, resources, and training more broadly. (3:24:34); Explained the substitute addresses clarifying grant-funding rules for transferring the materials. (3:25:33)
- David H. Moore (alderperson): Asked how the study accounts for shootings where no one calls 911, citing a shooting in his ward. (3:45:54); Said response-time data does not account for how alerts are reviewed in district decision support centers and called for considering newer technologies such as drones. (3:48:42); Said gunshot detection or similar tools can help protect police, direct ambulances, and protect the public, and that constituents want it. (4:18:34)
- Peter Chico (alderperson): Described a May 30 shooting in his ward where no one called 911 and a body was found hours later. (3:50:42); Asked what the city has in place when gunshot detection is absent and no one calls police. (3:52:10); Said 2,000 to 3,000 alerts per month combined with few 911 calls is unacceptable. (3:55:36)
- Marty Quinn (alderperson): Said the city offered signs urging residents to call police in place of gunshot detection and criticized that approach. (3:55:14); Said response times in the Eighth District can reach 45 to 50 minutes and residents, including police officers, want the technology. (4:16:08); Asked for the procurement timeline and commented that a roughly two-year timeline lands near election time. (4:17:04)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Asked the professor when the city should look for other approaches given reported false positive rates. (4:04:31); Agreed the city should control data and asked about the cost-benefit of gunshot detection and alternatives. (4:06:16)
Exchanges between members
- 57:27 Taliaferro asked the chair which organizations were invited to the hearing and which declined.
- 57:27 Taliaferro expressed appreciation for Tabares' leadership on the hearing.
- 1:22:55 Tabares thanked the chair for his advocacy on the issue.
- 1:25:23 Hadden thanked Tabares for bringing the resolution and hearing forward.
- 1:36:46 Reilly thanked Tabares for bringing the hearing together.
- 1:45:06 Martin thanked Tabares for flagging the issue.
- 1:45:13 Martin suggested to the chair exploring joint hearings with the Cook County Board.
- 1:51:14 Martin asked the chair whether follow-up requests to county representatives should go through the chair.
- 1:51:25 The chair said through-the-chair inquiries would be accepted and county partners expect to respond.
- 1:58:22 Vasquez thanked Tabares for convening the hearing.
- 1:59:59 Vasquez supported the suggestion for a joint City-County hearing.
- 2:16:49 After Fuentes' questions on ICE cases, the chair asked members to stay on the hearing's topic.
- 2:17:16 Manaa-Hoppenworth thanked Tabares for bringing the resolution forward.
- 2:20:28 The chair stopped Manaa-Hoppenworth's line of questioning as not germane to the resolution.
- 2:21:35 Rodríguez Sánchez said many of the cases Reilly cited appeared to involve mental health issues.
- 3:04:54 Taliaferro asked Villegas whether the ordinance applies only to sales to minors.
- 3:07:41 Lopez asked Villegas how many places a 1,000-foot zone would cover.
- 3:07:50 Villegas answered Lopez that the existing zone covers a little more than half the city.
- 3:14:49 Villegas told Lopez he had requested Park District information through the chair.
- 3:18:14 Curtis referred to his 15th Ward colleague's comments about the prior meeting.