Police Shooting Case Raises Questions About Illinois Justice Policies

And an Illinois man on parole is accused of trying to kill four Chicago police officers. NTT's Danny Monahan spoke with a retired police chief who blames what he calls soft on crime policies. Police say 31-year-old Cedric Griffin opened fire at officers responding to a prostitution complaint around six in the morning earlier this month. He then allegedly fled in a black Nissan SUV before crashing and fleeing on foot. Police say a firearm and several shell casings were recovered. Court records show Griffin was on parole after serving less than a year in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He now faces four counts of attempted murder of a police officer and other gun-related charges. CWB Chicago reports Griffin was on parole for aggravated battery of a peace officer in May 2023 when prosecutors said he shot a man in the leg during a carjacking because the man did not surrender his car fast enough. He ended up He was on parole for a prior weapons charge plus aggravated battery of police officer. He had already attacked an officer, received a two-year sentence on that previous case, but he actually served less than a year and was out. So he should have never been out of custody in the first place. Retired police chief Thomas Weitzel says what he called the revolving door system of criminal justice in Illinois is putting people's lives at risk. They're letting repeat offenders, violent repeat offenders out. And in this case, he attempted to kill four Chicago police officers in the line of duty, all in uniform, all in marked cars, could have cared less. The retired police chief, who was once shot in the line of duty, takes issue with Illinois laws like the You get 50% for good time. You get credit for being in custody while you're waiting for your case to be disposed of. If you're on electronic monitoring, they count that as in custody, which is absurd. Every single day, police officers in Illinois are dealing with individuals that are out on parole, on electronic monitoring, released early. Illinois also has something called essential movement days. That means while you're on electronic monitoring, they give you three days that you can be off electronic monitoring and do whatever you want. Just on these essential movement days, they're committing more violent crimes. The Safety Act in Illinois abolished cash bail. People accused of most non-detainable offenses are released automatically. Weitzel fears that other laws like the recent Clean Slate Act in Illinois are putting people in danger. The law seals past criminal records without any need to apply. It seals felony records after three years, excluding serious violent crimes. These laws are just making the streets more and more violent, and it's creating chaos and lawlessness. Would anyone go to the city of Chicago to shop anymore? Downtown, the beautiful, magnificent mile on Michigan Avenue, where they're having armed robberies, carjacking, shooting. Would you go there to eat dinner? Would you go to see a play, a movie? The Clean Slate Act is described by supporters as reducing barriers to housing and employment for over 2 million people. Weitzel says morale among Illinois police officers is low under the current leadership. Mayor Brandon Johnson, he's the mayor of the city of Chicago. He's in charge of the police department. When there was an ICE incident in Chicago with the Border Patrol, he put out his own YouTube video slamming ICE, slamming U.S. Border Patrol, supporting these individuals that attacked federal agents. But when Chicago police officers are shot at, crickets, nothing. Police say the investigation into the attempted shooting of police officers is ongoing. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News.