COOK COUNTY — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is expected to announce Tuesday the formation of a task force to study how to improve felony sex crime investigations and prosecutions.
The task force’s creation follows a four-day series published last month by the Belleville News-Democrat called “Violation of Trust,” which reported that 70 percent of rape cases reported to police in Southern Illinois don’t make it to court.
The article compared the number of criminal sexual assault and abuse cases reported to police with the number of cases filed by prosecutors in 32 counties from 2005 to 2013.
The task force will consist of Madigan, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly, and Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault Executive Director Polly Poskin. Details of the task force will be released at a press conference Tuesday in Chicago.
The investigation also found that cities with the largest police departments and most detectives had some of the lowest prosecution rates.