Illinois State Police Make Arrests In 'Horrific' Expressway Violence

By Andrew Hensel, The Center Square:Illinois State Police say the agency has made 20 arrests as a result of steps taken to stop violence on state operated expressways.

During a news conference Monday at the ISP forensic crime lab in Chicago, ISP Director Brendan Kelly said they're making progress.

Since the start of 2021, Illinois has seen over 200 expressway shootings, with multiple deaths occurring as a result. Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the new wave of violence "horrific."

"The pandemic has been marked by a horrific increase in violent crime in cities across the nation, including on major expressways that run through cities like Chicago," Pritzker said.

Kelly said that social media is part of the problem.

"Social media also enables the violent threats and tit for tat between groups and individuals in neighborhoods and in the 21st-century cellphone powered version of dueling, this interpersonal violence is taken out to the expressways," Kelly said.

Pritzker announced the filing of charges against 20 individuals that have been accused of crimes on the expressway. The arrests come after the state increased technology and manpower on the roadways. Illinois has implemented over 100 license plate readers on the expressways with another 200 planned to be installed soon.

Pritzker said that the best way to stop criminals is by having more cops and more technology.

"The best way to stop them when they enter our highways is to bring the power of the troopers and the technology of the ISP," Pritzker said.

Even after the recent string of arrests, state police and other law enforcement agencies are not done with their work on the expressways, Kelly said.

"Every Illinois State Police officer in the Chicago region is aggressively focused on making our expressways safer," he said.

The state has seen 13 expressway shootings so far in 2022, after seeing a record 260 in 2021.

Republicans have been critical of the Pritzker administration and Democratic supermajority at the statehouse for approving measures the GOP says are soft on crime. Republican gubernatorial candidate and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin's campaign said that as Pritzker was talking about working to prevent violence on expressways, a shooting took place on the Dan Ryan "at the very same time."

“From this disastrous anti-police bill to letting child killers back into our communities, it’s clear that criminals know they will not be held accountable for their actions in JB Pritzker’s Illinois,” Irvin said in a statement. “We need to repeal cashless bail, stop anonymous complaints against officers, and make sure we are protecting law enforcement and victims of crime.”

The focus of the work of The Center Square Illinois is state- and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility. For more stories from The Center Square, visit TheCenterSquare.com.