CHICAGO, IL – A Democratic city council alderman in Chicago is voicing his concerns over his state’s no-cash bail system following the fatal shooting of a Chicago Police officer earlier in April who was allegedly gunned down by a beneficiary of said no-cash bail system on prior charges.
As previously reported in Law Enforcement Today, 38-year-old Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew was fatally shot at Endeavor Health on the morning of April 25th after transporting an arrestee to the hospital for observation following a separate arrest for an alleged robbery.
Authorities claim the suspect brought to the hospital, later identified as 27-year-old Alphanso Talley, had managed to retrieve a firearm hidden under his blanket while awaiting a CT scan and opened fire on the officers tasked with observing him. Officer Bartholomew was pronounced deceased shortly after the shooting while another officer was critically injured.
Democrat Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez says that in light of the shooting allegedly carried out by Talley, who was reportedly on pretrial release compliments of Illinois’ cash-free bail policy, the state’s SAFE-T act needs to undergo a dramatic overhaul.
“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 stated.
In the past nine years, Talley has been convicted on four counts of aggravated robbery, prohibited possession/use of a firearm by a felon, aggravated battery of a peace officer, and possession of a stolen vehicle. As for his latest pretrial release, Talley was placed on electronic monitoring for another armed robbery case from 2025 back in December, with a warrant for his arrest being issued this past March after two electronic monitoring violations occurring within the same month.
According to Alderman Lopez, defendants like Talley are a perfect example of who shouldn’t benefit from no-cash bail policies.
“Those individuals do not deserve to enjoy any kind of sympathy from us,” Lopez stated, adding, “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.”
Talley has since been 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.
As previously reported in Law Enforcement Today, 38-year-old Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew was fatally shot at Endeavor Health on the morning of April 25th after transporting an arrestee to the hospital for observation following a separate arrest for an alleged robbery.
Authorities claim the suspect brought to the hospital, later identified as 27-year-old Alphanso Talley, had managed to retrieve a firearm hidden under his blanket while awaiting a CT scan and opened fire on the officers tasked with observing him. Officer Bartholomew was pronounced deceased shortly after the shooting while another officer was critically injured.
Democrat Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez says that in light of the shooting allegedly carried out by Talley, who was reportedly on pretrial release compliments of Illinois’ cash-free bail policy, the state’s SAFE-T act needs to undergo a dramatic overhaul.
“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 stated.
In the past nine years, Talley has been convicted on four counts of aggravated robbery, prohibited possession/use of a firearm by a felon, aggravated battery of a peace officer, and possession of a stolen vehicle. As for his latest pretrial release, Talley was placed on electronic monitoring for another armed robbery case from 2025 back in December, with a warrant for his arrest being issued this past March after two electronic monitoring violations occurring within the same month.
According to Alderman Lopez, defendants like Talley are a perfect example of who shouldn’t benefit from no-cash bail policies.
“Those individuals do not deserve to enjoy any kind of sympathy from us,” Lopez stated, adding, “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.”
Talley has since been 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.
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