The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice and more than 55 community, faith, policy, and service-providing organizations sent a letter to the Cook County Board of Commissioners calling on them to protect funding for essential services like violence prevention, behavioral health, and community investment to reduce intra-community violence. With the County facing a $550 million budget shortfall, we believe the best way for the county to protect these critical services is by freezing law enforcement spending, which is already far above the levels set when there were many more people in jail and many more criminal cases being processed by our court system. 

In the last decade, county stakeholders and community advocates have worked together to reduce the number of people incarcerated in the Cook County Jail by nearly 40%. Cook County has simultaneously seen a dramatic decrease in both violent and property crime—direct results of increased investments in housing, violence prevention programs, healthcare, job programs, education, direct financial supports, and services within the community that address the root causes of crime. 

Nonetheless, the Cook County Department of Corrections budget has not seen a reduction that coincides with that drop in pretrial jailing. Similarly, the budget for the State’s Attorney’s Office grew tremendously over the last decade, even as both the number of case filings and crime rates continued to decrease. 

The need for freezing law enforcement spending has only increased since we made this same request in 2025. Last year, the Cook County Board of Commissioners increased funding to law enforcement and corrections by over $300 million. This happened while the federal government was simultaneously dismantling the social safety net, leaving massive service gaps that Cook County will be forced to fill. 

It is more important than ever that Cook County freeze law enforcement spending to ensure that we can protect essential health and human services that result in significantly better public safety outcomes while operating with compassion and care for our communities. 

Read the letter and our recommendations for where the county should invest to keep our communities safe here.