Witness protection plan
Ira Acree
The Honorable State's Attorney Kim Foxx of the County of Cook
69 W. Washington, Suite 3200
Chicago, il, 60620
Dear State’s Attorney Foxx
This letter is being sent to request your leadership as Cook County’s chief prosecutor in establishing a viable witness protection program. Fourteen innocent people were shot last week while mourning the loss of a loved one, and this is unacceptable. It seems like no place is safe on the west and south sides of Chicago. I eulogized Amaria Jones a few weeks ago, a 13 year old girl who was gunned down while dancing for her mom, in the sanctity of her home. Nothing is sacred anymore and no one is off limits for this generation of shooters! They have become so emboldened because they have concluded that there will be no consequences for their action. That’s why today, we need you Madam State’s Attorney to begin the task of establishing a viable witness protection program immediately. Currently the county has a program called Victim Witness Assistance, but it is simply not effective. The one thing that would radically reduce the violence right now is improving the city’s abysmal homicide clearance rate. When murderers know that they can commit a crime and the percentages of them getting caught are slim to none, it emboldens them. A Witness protection program is worth the expense, if it helps rescue us from this current state of lawlessness in Chicago. If there is no consequence for one who murders, the pattern will continue and the violence will continue to escalate as it has. In our current context people are afraid to report the perpetrators of crimes because of the fear of retaliation. I’m in the neighborhood and many decent people often say they want to report the shooters but they don’t believe that our government will protect them. Our real challenge in solving crimes is not breaking the code of silence, but it’s actually in breaking the culture of fear. The way this could be immediately addressed is by putting the needed resources into a Witness Protection Program that people can trust and believe in. People need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when they turn in a cold blooded murderer that they will not be left alone, but will have protection and resources to safeguard them, and access to financial resources if relocation is necessary. State’s Attorney Fox, you can make a difference by championing this initiative. The biggest deterrent for any one committing a crime is the fear of being apprehended and punished. This fear is nonexistent in Chicago. Me and many of my clergy colleagues throughout this city, who have eulogized many of these victims and counseled families, are also urging President Preckwinkle and the Cook County board to provide the needed resources to make this budget necessity happen expeditiously. Taxpayers will pay either on the front end or the back end! On the back end, you pay with lives lost and lawsuits, the front is better, and it’s imperative that we make the investment now! Me and our panel of pastors welcome a meeting with you to discuss this further.
Sincerely,