Illinois no-cash bail law 'utterly manipulated' by violent offenders, Dem alderman says after cop's killing
A Chicago alderman says the state's no-cash bail law has been "utterly manipulated and abused," and is calling for changes after a felon on pretrial release allegedly killed a police officer inside a hospital.
Alphanso Talley, 27, was charged on Monday after allegedly killing 38-year-old Chicago Police Department officer John Bartholomew at Swedish Hospital on Saturday, and injuring another officer in a shooting.
Talley allegedly shot both officers around 11 a.m. at the hospital, where officials said he was taken into custody for a previous armed robbery. While he was being taken to a CT scan, prosecutors said he had a gun underneath his blanket, which he pulled out and then shot both officers.
He was wanted after allegedly robbing a Family Dollar store on Saturday morning and pistol-whipping one of their female employees, taking her wallet and keys.
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Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital that the SAFE-T act, the law that eliminated cash bail in Illinois, needs to be overhauled after Saturday's shooting, which was allegedly committed by someone who was on pretrial release.
"It absolutely needs to be amended because I think while the intention was good, not forcing people to sit in jail because they couldn't afford bond on minor crimes, it has been utterly manipulated and abused by dangerous violent repeat offenders who have no regard for the sanctity of human life, no regard for property, and no intention of ever following the law," Lopez said.
Prosecutors say Talley's prior gun conviction from 2021 and four aggravated robbery convictions from 2017 make him eligible for a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a repeat offender.
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When Talley was accused of murdering Bartholomew and shooting another officer, he was out of jail on pretrial release for a previous armed robbery case.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on March 11 while he was on pretrial release for the alleged armed robbery after he had two electronic monitor violations in early March, according to court documents.
Judge John Lyke has presided over Talley's criminal cases for at least three years, according to ABC7 News, noting that he said during a December hearing that "It appears [Talley's] mind is finally developing, and he may be on the path to making better decisions."
According to those records, Talley first got an electronic monitor last year on Dec. 11, but his monitor alerted two violations within three days in early March.
Lopez said people like Talley don't deserve to get pretrial release, arguing he should have remained locked up until his trial.
"Those individuals do not deserve to enjoy any kind of sympathy from us, the law-abiding citizens of Illinois, after they commit their fourth, fifth, eighth, twelfth, seventieth crimes, because what they've already shown us is a willingness to continue the pattern of illegal criminal violent behavior," Lopez said.
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Part of the issue, Lopez argues, is that judges aren't correctly using someone's criminal history when making a determination on if someone should remain in jail until their trial.
"Judges are not seeing the full breadth and scope of what's going on in someone's criminal history — or they're not allowed to use that in making their determination. And that is what is allowing these individuals who oftentimes have multiple arrests to go and get electronic monitoring and be sent home," he said.
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Retired Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy told Fox News Digital that this incident is a glaring example showing why Illinois' no-cash bail law needs to be changed, and how the system failed Bartholomew.
"Here's a guy who's accused of a violent crime and armed robbery and he's allowed back out on the streets and then he cuts off his electronic monitoring device. And that is a deliberate act that calls for revocation of the bond," Roy said.
Talley was charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated unlawful restraint, armed robbery, aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated battery of a peace officer, aggravated battery, escape and unlawful use of a weapon.
Fox News' Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.