Even as the Cook County state’s attorney declared a pilot program that allows Chicago police officers to file felony gun charges without first getting approval from a prosecutor an “overwhelming success,” critics renewed their objection to the effort, saying it creates a “two-tiered system of justice” in Chicago.
The Felony Review Bypass Pilot Program, which has the support of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, allows Chicago police officers to charge those arrested in two South Side police districts with unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon — which are felonies — without getting the approval of an assistant state’s attorney after a CPD lieutenant signs off.
The pilot program has been in effect for nearly seven months in the South Side’s Englewood (7th) Police District and for nearly five months in the Calumet (5th) Police District. In all other parts of Chicago and Cook County, an assistant state’s attorney must sign off before felony gun possession charges are filed…