During a recent press conference, President Trump emphasized his intention to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C., while also initiating a federal takeover of policing in the capital. This announcement, made on Monday, forms part of his broader strategy to combat crime in the nation’s capital, despite data from the Justice Department indicating that violent crime rates in D.C. are at their lowest in over 30 years.
In response to Trump's announcement, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed her unease, labeling the police takeover as "unsettling and unprecedented." However, she acknowledged that the city's administration was not wholly taken by surprise, especially following an incident where a staff member in the Department of Justice office was injured during an attempted carjacking.
While addressing the media, President Trump shifted his focus to Chicago, linking the city’s crime issues to its cash bail system. "Every place in the country you have no cash bail is a disaster," he stated, asserting that the lack of cash bail is a significant factor in the city’s crime troubles. He specifically blamed local politicians for the situation, declaring, "That’s where it started, no cash bail. I mean, somebody murders somebody and they’re out on no cash bail before the day is out." Trump pledged to change this statute in Chicago, indicating a reliance on Republican support for any legislative alterations.
In 2021, Illinois passed the original version of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act (SAFE-T Act), later amending it in 2022. This legislation made Illinois the first state to abolish cash bail, a decision that was temporarily halted before its implementation on January 1, 2023. However, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional in July 2023, allowing it to take effect in September of the same year. The SAFE-T Act applies statewide and aims to prevent individuals arrested for nonviolent or low-level offenses from being incarcerated solely due to their inability to pay bail.
As of September 2024, data indicated that the elimination of cash bail in Illinois had not led to a rise in crime; in fact, both violent and property crime rates had decreased. Matthew McLoughlin, campaign coordinator for the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, criticized Trump's comments, clarifying that under the current system, judges decide on a defendant's release based on the nature of the crime rather than imposing financial barriers. "Families are no longer having to choose between paying a ransom to free their loved one or paying the rent — that’s making all of our communities safer," McLoughlin noted.
David Olson, a researcher at the Center for Criminal Justice at Loyola University Chicago, examined the implications of the SAFE-T Act over the past two years. He concluded that crime rates did not increase following the law's implementation. However, Olson acknowledged the difficulty in determining whether crime would have decreased more significantly without the new legislation.
While Trump did not specify how he would work to amend Illinois' no cash bail law, he mentioned his intention to collaborate with the Republican-controlled Congress to make changes. "We’re going to change no cash bail, we’re going to change the statute and get rid of some of the other things," Trump asserted.
Legal analysts, including Irv Miller from CBS News Chicago, have pointed out that the likelihood of Trump reversing cash bail in Illinois through executive action is virtually nonexistent. "There is a 0% chance he can, by his own order, bring cash bail back to Illinois," Miller stated, emphasizing that such changes would require legislative action from the General Assembly in Springfield.
When questioned about the possibility of deploying the National Guard in Chicago, Trump suggested he was considering similar actions but did not provide specifics about what would trigger such a decision. He criticized both Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, labeling them as incompetent leaders. In response, Pritzker took to social media to assert that Trump lacks the authority to impose federal control over Chicago, further stating, "It doesn’t take much, frankly. And we have a president who seems hell-bent on doing just that."
Mayor Johnson responded to Trump's threats by highlighting the significant progress made in reducing crime rates during his tenure, with a noted decrease in homicides and shootings. He pointed out that Trump had recently cut funding for violence prevention programs in Chicago, arguing that restoring these funds would be a more effective means of enhancing public safety than deploying the National Guard. "Sending in the National Guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts," Johnson concluded.
As the situation continues to unfold, CBS News Chicago has reached out to the White House for further comment regarding Johnson's appeal to restore funding for anti-violence initiatives but has yet to receive a response.
