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Felony cases up significantly in St. Clair County
By JENNIFER A. BOWEN — News-Democrat
The St. Clair County State's Attorney's office has seen a significant jump in the number of felony cases it prosecutes as the number of cases presented to the office by county law enforcement agencies over the past two years surged.
Part of State's Attorney Brendan Kelly's strategy to combat crime in St. Clair County has been to visit every law department and agency in the county and open the lines of communication between them and his department and to help them build better cases to present to prosecutors.
"I think that's reflected in the numbers," he said. "They are going that extra mile, we are going that extra effort with them and working close together as a team. We know the challenges they face and they know what we need."
He and his staff have also been using alternative methods to ensure the punishment fits the crime and to address underlying issues that may have been key factors in the crime committed. Some of alternatives include sending offenders through a drug court, veterans court or mental health court, depending on the offense and the particular situation of the offender.
Charges submitted to the state's attorney's office for drug offenses are up 100 percent since 2010.
"That's a perfect example of our philosophy," Kelly said. "We are trying to separate the sheep from the wolves with the harshest penalties for those dealing drugs but using everything we have at our disposal to help those addicted to drugs."
Some of the options available include drug court, drug school, probation and counseling instead of jail time for addicts.
"Our duty, by law, is not to convict. Our duty is to justice, first and foremost," Kelly said. "Justice can mean putting a very sick person who is a sexual offender or a violent criminal away for as long as we can, but, an addict gets treatment. The goal is always justice and making the community a safer place."
A recent example of that philosophy was seen when prosecutors recommended probation for a couple accused of robbing a Belleville credit union then immediately turning themselves in. When prosecutors delved deeper into the underlying issues in the case they discovered the couple had mental health and diminished-capacity issues. Neither had a prior criminal record and no weapon was used.
The bank robbery charges were dismissed in favor of theft charges and a plea agreement included probation that requires mental health treatment, help with housing and help getting the couple back on their feet.
"There are a lot of mental health problems we see," Kelly said. "State and federal governments are cutting programs involving mental health and we see a good number of those people who have mental issues because those issues aren't being treated. They can also have financial problems. Having a setting like mental health court or drug court or veterans court is becoming more and more important to address those issues. We are trying to be active in using the tools we have to prevent crime and get at underlying issues, such as drug addiction or mental health problems."
In the first eight months of 2010, the state's attorney's office filed 1,033 felony counts.
During that same time frame in 2012, 1,721 felony charges have been filed, an increase of 67 percent. That number represents felony charges filed, not number of defendants. For example, one defendant may be charged with several different counts related to a particular crime.
"If we cast our net wide in terms of types of cases we charge, then, we improve the chances we can have a positive impact on these very challenging problems that affect public safety," Kelly said.
Kelly emphasized that while his office is taking a wider approach to prosecuting cases by looking at each individual case and underlying factors of defendants, he prosecutes violent criminals and sexual predators to the fullest extent allowed under law.
"Those people have to be put away and kept separate from the rest of society for some period because it is a matter of public safety. Period," he said. "For issues of drug addiction or mental health and some other situations where it is nonviolent crime and people have found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, measures like mental health or drug treatment or even special conditions probation are a more cost-effective way to attack the problem."
In Dupo, charges prosecuted by the state's attorney saw the highest increase. That jurisdiction went from one felony case between January and August 2010 to 12 so far this year. Similar increases can be seen in other jurisdictions: East St. Louis went from 54 felony cases in 2010 to 94 cases so far this year; Washington Park increased from eight cases in 2010 to 27 felony cases in 2012 and Centreville saw an increase of 31 cases in 2012 from six during the first eight months of 2010.
"I'm very proud of those departments and the effort they've put into improving their game and working very closely with us," Kelly said. "Everyone is working very, very hard. The police departments are working very hard, prosecutors are working very hard, judges are working hard and the public defenders are working hard."
Among all the felony crime categories, charges for crimes against children as experienced the biggest increase at 367 percent. Charges for felony general violent crimes went up 300 percent. General violent crimes include domestic violence crimes.
Kelly said he was surprised when he started looking at the numbers and noted the increases in cases prosecuted by his office.
"We still have a lot of work to do," he said. "The increase in charges for sex offenses, crimes against children and general violence crimes can in part be attributed to the approach our prosecutors have taken in our violent crimes unit. Those cases where a child is a witness can be difficult to prove sometimes and if evidence isn't strong on a particular point we can charge a wide range of counts. By doing that, we can negotiate from a position of strength by having those multiple charges in the event that some might be dismissed."
The office also increases the strength of it's cases involving children by having a prosecutor attend most child victim interviews at the Child Advocacy Center.
"Having a prosecutor as part of that process improves case building and that is reflected in those numbers for crimes against children," Kelly added
Read more here:http://www.bnd.com/2012/08/10/2280135/cases-presented-for-prosecution.html#storylink=cpy
