Share and Follow
The tragic shooting that claimed the life of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew and left his partner injured has sparked renewed debate over potential amendments to the Illinois Safe-T Act.
Alphanso Talley, the suspect in the shooting, has a criminal history as a seven-time felon. At the time of the incident, he was under electronic monitoring and had previously failed to appear in court in March for charges related to carjacking and armed robbery.
The Safe-T Act, which significantly reformed the pretrial detention system in Illinois, includes the controversial elimination of cash bail. This legislation has been under scrutiny following recent events.
Among those advocating for changes to the Safe-T Act is Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran from Downers Grove.
“The Safe-T Act was intended to ensure that individuals facing non-violent charges are not held in jail solely due to financial inability to post bail amounts as low as $100 or $200. That aspect of the Act is effective. However, we are failing in how the Act handles repeat violent offenders who show a consistent pattern of violence,” Curran stated.
Curran says there is a way to make the existing law better. He says the trouble is with suspects who are on pretrial release and ankle monitoring, who are then arrested for other crimes.
“So, you’re talking a small subset of those in the criminal justice system. But these are the most dangerous individuals in the criminal justice system and pose the greatest risk to public safety,” he said.
Curran says right now, it’s the end of the legislative session, but there are discussions about his proposal.
Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie of Savanna has filed identical legislation.
Curran hopes by the end of May, the legislature will pass their proposed change.
Speaking about the Safe-T Act and the shooting of Officer Bartholomew, Governor JB Pritzker said, “Well, what played a role here was that the judge who had the ability to keep the person in jail, didn’t.”
Sharone R. Mitchell Junior is the Cook County Public Defender. He says the Safe-T Act has impacted the people his office represents.
“I think what it’s done is create a better hearing process for when this important decision needs to be made,” Mitchell said. “Before you had these hearings that would last a minute. And the final determination would be how much money a person had. The changes to the Safe-T Act have made these hearings far longer. Far more expansive. Far more informative. And it’s given judges more information to make this really important decision.”
He says the Safe-T Act is “far better than the status quo.”
Mitchell says the decisions that judges make won’t always be perfect.
As for the proposal by State Senator Curran he said: “The problem with that proposal is that it’s completely unconstitutional. There has to be a hearing to determine whether a person is going to get their rights taken away. What we’re talking about is a person accused of an offense. And accountability happens when there’s a trial. When there’s evidence presented. And a judge or jury makes a decision or a person pleads guilty.”
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.