Jason Poje: Chicago prosecutor quits amid city's increasing crime rate, says 'will not raise my son here'
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Veteran Chicago prosecutor Jason Poje announced his resignation in a bitter letter, citing the city's rising crime, which has exposed his five-year-old son to frequent gunfire. Poje issued a warning that the Windy City was "on a course to disaster" following a string of unsuccessful woke policies.
Poje, a former state attorney for Cook County, criticized the bail reform, saying it results in dangerous criminals being let loose on the streets, shorter parole terms, lenient punishments for repeat offenders, and the needless prosecuting of police officers. Recent figures show that since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office, crime has risen drastically in the city, according to DailyMail. The number of homicides has climbed by 11%, the number of robberies has increased by a third, and the number of vehicle thefts has increased by 237% since 2019.
READ MORE
'I will not raise my son here'
Poje stated in the letter, "Many years ago my family found a nice quiet corner of the suburbs. Now my son, who is only five, hears gunfire while playing at our neighborhood park, and a drug dealer is open-air selling behind my house (the second one in two years)," according to Chicago Contrarian.
"I will not raise my son here," Poje stated. "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."
Poje listed a number of "so-called reforms" that were supported by Lightfoot and Illinois Governor J B Pritzker, alleging that they inexorably increased crime. He wrote, "The worst part is that the agency for whom I work has backed literally every policy change that has the predictable, and predicted, outcome of more crime and more people getting hurt," according to Chicago Contrarian.
Where is Jason Palmer working right now?
Poje is currently employed with a legal service in Madison, Wisconsin. He even concluded the letter by expressing his best wishes to his former colleagues. He wrote, "To everyone in the trenches in the State's Attorney's Office and in law enforcement, my one regret is that I cannot be at your side anymore as you continue to fight to good fight," according to Chicago Contrarian.
"I do not envy the task you have before you, but you have my utmost respect for carrying on. I hope one day you are successful at returning some kind of common sense and security to our communities," he concluded.