Roll Call: What does law enforcement want from the new Cook County state’s attorney?

It is no secret that I did not like former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. I explicitly stated that her policies and procedures were law enforcement’s worst enemy, and I stand by that. I supported Bob Fioretti for Cook County State’s Attorney during the recent election. He was defeated by Eileen O’Neill Burke. The voters have spoken, and we must move forward.

So, what are police officers looking for in a new state’s attorney? What the police officers want from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has always been straightforward. They want fair treatment. The Foxx administration enacted policies that make a police officer’s job harder and more dangerous and, in some cases, result in not holding violent criminals accountable. Police officers want that to change.

Police officers want a state’s attorney and her assistant state’s attorneys to perform their role as prosecutors, not to function as defense counsel. They want the state’s attorney’s office to work with police officers on approving felony charges and building cases.

Police officers would like to see an overhaul of the state’s attorney’s felony review unit. The unit is commonly referred to by police officers as felony rejection, and rightfully so. Prosecutors need to remember that the police officers and detectives build the case and then must bring it to the felony review unit for approval. Felony approval assistants are not investigators, but prosecutors put on the case.

No arrest or case presented to the felony review unit includes every possible piece of evidence when the case is initially filed. At times, police may still be gathering evidence before the trial, and there may be instances where the evidence requested by the state’s attorney cannot be obtained. Therefore, no case is 100% conclusive. That reflects real-life situations. However, the defendant should still be charged.

The state’s attorney should also eliminate what is commonly called a CI or continuing investigation. Foxx and her staff used the continuing-investigation ploy whenever they did not believe the police had enough evidence, did not do a good enough job or failed to present evidence that met their burden. This was rarely true. Foxx and her office just wanted more evidence than was immediately available for prosecution. The continuing investigation moniker put on police investigations is like punting in football. It is akin to giving up.

No police officer working in Illinois, specifically Cook County, thinks they will win every case they bring to trial. That is ridiculous. As I stated, officers are asking for a fair shake with professional prosecutors working alongside them, not against them.

The new state’s attorney must repair the working relationship with police in Cook County. The relationship between law enforcement and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is at an all-time low.

The state’s attorney’s office also must ask for violent defendants in all cases to be held in custody at their first appearance court dates. Not every request will be granted, but the state’s attorney’s office needs to take an aggressive approach to holding violent, repeat offenders in custody and stand up for the overall safety of our communities.

Finally, the law enforcement community asks that the state’s attorney leave political ideology out of prosecution decisions. Just go with the evidence and prosecute the cases presented to you. If you perform these simple tasks, Cook County residents and police officers will be safer. Additionally, repeat offenders will be stopped from victimizing over and over again until we witness a tragedy.

Last but not least, all defendants who attack police officers should be kept in custody and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is a must, not a want. If you the new state’s attorney does that, the working relationship with the police and public safety will improve.

• Tom Weitzel was chief of the Riverside Police Department. Follow him @chiefweitzel.