Cook County electronic monitoring system under scrutiny after woman set on fire on CTA train
The electronic monitoring system in Cook County has come under increased scrutiny after a woman was set on fire in a horrific arson attack on the Blue Line, with critics demanding answers as to why the suspect wasn't already behind bars.
Lawrence Reed, 50, who has been arrested on federal terrorism charges in the attack, was on electronic monitoring at the time.
In April, the Cook County Sheriff's office ended its electronic monitoring program, and shifted all new cases to the Cook County Chief Judge's office, even though that office doesn't have law enforcement powers. That's the issue many critics are pointing to in the wake of the Blue Line attack.
On a GoFundMe page, 26-year-old Bethany MaGee's family shared photos and an update that she's still hospitalized for the severe burns she sustained on Nov. 17.
That's when federal prosecutors say MaGee was minding her own business on an O'Hare-bound Blue Line train around 9 p.m., when Reed came up to her and set her on fire with no provocation whatsoever.
Reed was previously arrested 72 times and was on an ankle monitor with a curfew after an alleged violent attack in August on a social worker at a psychiatric hospital where he was being treated.
For that case, the Cook County State's Attorney's office asked for Reed to be detained, strongly objecting to electronic monitoring, but a judge disagreed and ordered him placed on electronic monitoring.
"If you're putting a violent offender on electronic monitoring, we believe that you are endangering the public by doing so," Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke said.
Burke has ordered all of her prosecutors to take that position when judges place defendants on electronic monitoring over their objections. She said that's because, when a suspect violates the terms of their monitoring, it's not like the county's Pretrial Services Division can just go pick them up.
"The personnel that monitor it are not law enforcement," Burke said.
Court records obtained by the CBS News Chicago Investigators show Reed violated his electronic monitoring at least five times in the days before the attack on MaGee, including on the day it happened, but nothing happened to him.
The violations were documented, but now that the system is no longer under the sheriff, the process requires several steps to get the information in front of a judge, and the deadline would have been Reed's next scheduled court date.
"This is not something I embrace readily," Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said during a county budget hearing last year, predicting this kind of issue as he argued court-run electronic monitoring can't match the level of oversight provided by law enforcement.
"When a similar person is in a home on electronic monitoring under the court system, they are not in custody, they are not detained," he said at the time.
Last year, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said her administration had advocated for this new electronic monitoring system since 2022 — with the goals of "equity, safety and fiscal responsibility."
Asked if there has been a formal review of how the system is working under the chief judge's office, Preckwinkle's office said in a statement, "The planned transition in EM to the Office of the Chief Judge has been coordinated across justice system offices that have met regularly to ensure a successful transition and troubleshoot any issues. We will ensure this collaboration continues so that we can continue to advance our shared goals of ensuring our system is safe, effective and fair,"
Preckwinkle's office declined a request for an interview. When asked whether any changes were being considered prior to, or in light of, the Reed case, they referred CBS News Chicago to a statement from the chief judge's office, in which they said, "We are reviewing all actions taken in this case to ensure procedures were followed and to identify opportunities for improvement.
"One immediate change under consideration is reinstating the practice of reporting escalated EM alerts to the State's Attorney's Office. That process was previously paused, following concerns raised by the State's Attorney's Office regarding the volume of alerts. In the interest of public safety, we believe it is necessary to re-evaluate this process," the chief judge's office added.