City of Chicago Covid-19 Policies

The City of Chicago has ordered the following policies due to Covid-19:

• Delay referral of parking, red light, speed camera tickets to collection firms until June 1, 2020.
• No defaults of payment plans for until after June 1, 2020 and no new interest accumulated on current compliance plans including city tickets, utility bills, parking and red-light citations, booting and other non-public safety related violations.
• Delay driver’s license suspensions until after April 30, 2020.
• Through at least June 1, the city will suspend booting, late fees and defaults on payment plans for all city debts, and is suspending city debt checks for ride-share and taxi drivers. 
• Through at least June 1, the city will be limiting ticketing, towing and impounding solely to what are public safety-related issues.
• Extend utility bill due dates and referral to collection firms until June 1, 2020. #covid-19, #coronavirus, 
  

Decline in Car Crashes

Total car crashes have dropped as more people are staying off the roads during the coronavirus pandemic, but state and local officials say some drivers are using the wide-open spaces as an excuse to speed.

In Illinois, crash rates dropped by more than half statewide April 1 through April 26 compared with the same period last year — to 1,608 statewide and to 688 on Cook County non-Tollway roads, according to the Illinois State Police.

This can be explained by fewer cars on the road, with schools and businesses closed. A national study conducted by INRIX, a provider of travel time information for travelers and shipping companies, found that vehicle miles traveled in Illinois dropped as much as 52% because of the pandemic, with lower travel times on ordinarily jammed expressways like the Eisenhower and Kennedy.

But Chicago has also seen a 14% increase in speeding tickets generated by automated cameras, while Illinois State Police figures show a modest increase in the rate of personal injury crashes in Cook County, which could indicate more reckless driving. #covid-19, #carcrashes, #coronavirus,

Coronavirus and Divorce

It seems the ripple effect of coronavirus has infected everything, and divorcing individuals are not immune. The most apparent impact is that most, if not all, courthouses are closed except for emergencies. This may delay your divorce, along with applications for temporary support and custody. There are other less obvious issues as well. .

Your divorce is a lawsuit, and that means it’s dependent on proper and timely functioning of the court system to become final. Court systems across the country are responding in multiple ways to balance handling the pandemic with ensuring the health and safety of all the people they touch – employees, litigants and attorneys. #divorcecoronavirus, #covid-19divorce,

Decrease in crime due to coronavirus

Would-be criminals may be heeding stay-at-home orders, as major cities across the United States report significant dip in major crimes like burglary, assault, murder, robbery and grand larceny, a drop likely influenced by a lack of opportunity as businesses close and streets empty. 

• In Chicago, drug arrests have dropped by 42% in the weeks since the city shut down, the Associated Press reports, while in Los Angeles, the rate of key crimes plummeted 30% after March 15.
• New York City—the nation’s hard-hit epicenter, where nearly 20% of the city’s police force reported sick this week—is also experiencing a double-digit decrease in crime. 
• “In some sense, it’s like a giant blizzard has hit and there’s 10 feet of snow on the ground,” a former police officer and criminal justice professor told the Washington Post. 
• In a study by USA Today, 19 out of 20 police agencies recorded a lower number of criminal incidents since March 15, and the agencies studied also reported a significant decrease in traffic stops, down as much as 92% in some areas. 
• But it’s not all good news: While drug crimes and homicides are plummeting, the rate of domestic violence, which may be exacerbated by shelter-in-place orders, shows signs of surging. 
• Nuisance complaints—and especially residential noise complaints—are also up, and in some areas, police are cracking down on scofflaws ignoring social distancing rules. #coronaviruscrime, #decreaseincrimecoronavirus,
  

Cook County Jail

The Cook County sheriff’s office announced announced Wednesday that 26 more detainees at Cook County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, raising the number of confirmed cases among detainees to 167.

Twelve detainees diagnosed with the disease have been hospitalized, the sheriff’s office said. Additionally, 34 staff members have also tested positive.

The first two cases of COVID-19 were announced March 23. So far, the jail has released at least 400 detainees, as Cook County judges conduct case-by-case bond reviews in an attempt to lower the jail’s population and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. #coronavirus, #cookcountyjail,

Coronavirus Office Closings

     On March 20, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a statewide stay-at-home order aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus.  All non-essential business in the state were ordered to close their doors effective March 21, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. and remain closed through April 7, 2020.

     The executive order specifically lists 23 different kinds of businesses that are "encouraged to remain open", including "professional services, such as legal services, accounting services, insurance services , real estate services (including appraisal and title services).  Under the order, professional services such as legal services can stay open "when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities". #coronavirus, 

Coronavirus Court Closing

The vast majority of Cook County court operations, both criminal and civil, will be postponed for nearly a month beginning last Tuesday as a precaution against coronavirus, the chief judge’s office confirmed Friday.

Courthouses across the county will remain open “though there will be fewer cases,” according to a statement from the office. Regular operations are expected to resume April 15 at the earliest, according to a statement from Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office. #coronavirus, #courtclosings,