Chicago Prosecutor Quits, Leaves Illinois, Over Soft-On-Crime Policies

As crime across Chicago, Illinois, continues to skyrocket, voters decided earlier this year to make Democrat Lori Lightfoot the first incumbent mayor in four decades to lose a re-election bid.

Instead of replacing her with a candidate who endorses a more tough-on-crime approach, however, Chicagoans voted for Brandon Johnson, a far-left Democrat who has openly advocated for defunding the police.

The situation has become so dire that one veteran prosecutor recently announced his resignation with a scathing letter denouncing the Windy City’s current state.

Jason Poje informed the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office of his intentions by writing: “After 20 years, I always kind of figured an email like this would start with ‘It is with a heavy heart that I leave…’ The truth is, I can’t get out of here fast enough.”

He went on to outline the “course to disaster” charted by state and county leaders, accusing the agency for which he worked of supporting “literally every policy change that had the predictable, and predicted, outcome of more crime and more people getting hurt.”

Poje cited a number of changes that have occurred during his tenure that he said have contributed to making Chicago a more dangerous city, including: “Bond reform designed to make sure no one stays in jail while their cases are pending with no safety net to handle more criminals on the streets, shorter parole periods, lower sentences for repeat offenders, the malicious and unnecessary prosecution of law enforcement officers, overuse of diversion programs, intentionally not pursuing prosecutions for crimes lawfully on the books after being passed by our legislature and signed by a governor.”

These policies sold by supporters as essential for criminal justice reform “have had a direct negative impact, with consequences that will last for a generation,” he continued.

Aside from the broader impact that these changes have had on the city and surrounding communities, Poje said that a primary motive for his decision to resign was more personal.

Despite moving to what he initially believed to be “a nice quiet corner of the suburbs,” he lamented that his 5-year-old son has witnessed gunfire, drug deals, and other evidence of the crime epidemic.

“I will not raise my son here,” Poje concluded. “I am fortunate enough to have the means to escape, so my entire family is leaving the State of Illinois. I grew up here, my family and friends are here, and yet my own employer has turned it into a place from which I am no longer proud to be, and in which my son is not safe.”