The decision to release a five-time felon with four pending felony cases, including two violent robberies, on electronic monitoring was not a mistake, Cook County’s chief judge says, even though that man is now accused of going on to murder a Chicago police officer and gravely wounding the fallen officer’s partner.
“I wouldn’t call it a mistake,” Judge Charles Beach told WGN’s Ben Bradley in an interview on Wednesday. “The judge made the best decision with what was in front of them at the time, right? Unfortunately, you know, we’ll go back to that concept: How do you predict what another human being is going to do?”
Retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel had a response to Beach’s rhetorical question: “How do you predict another person’s actions? Start with the obvious—his criminal history. When a violent offender begs to be held in custody, do it.”…