Nearly 1 in 12 defendants on Chicago ankle monitor program have gone AWOL

Nearly 1 in 12 criminal defendants released pre-trial on ankle monitors in Chicago have gone missing, authorities say, with hundreds of those still enrolled facing charges including murder, attempted murder and sexual assault.

Data as of May 8, from the Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County shows that 246 out of 3,048 defendants enrolled in the electronic monitoring program have been deemed AWOL — meaning they hold active warrants and are no longer actively wearing their devices. Law enforcement is working to locate the missing individuals. 

Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II described the disclosure as part of a renewed transparency effort following the killing of an on-duty Chicago police officer and the critical wounding of his partner last month, allegedly by a seven-time felon who had escaped the ankle monitor program. 

“Transparency is not optional. It is a core obligation of this office,” Judge Beach said. “The public has a right to know how this program operates, what the data shows and what we are doing every day to make it stronger.” His office said escape reports will now be issued regularly, with the next scheduled for May 26. 

Among those still enrolled in the program and not yet listed as AWOL, hundreds face serious charges. As of early April, the court’s electronic monitoring program included 21 people with pending murder cases, 13 facing attempted murder charges, 103 charged with criminal sexual assault, 78 charged with robbery, and 16 with pending carjacking cases. 

The program’s failures came into sharp focus last month. Alphanso Talley — described by officials as a seven-time convicted felon, a parole absconder and an electronic monitoring escapee — had cases pending for armed carjacking and armed robbery at the time. He was on electronic monitoring awaiting trial when he allegedly shot two Chicago police officers in late April, and his ankle monitor had stopped transmitting weeks earlier. Mr. Talley now faces a murder charge in the death of Chicago Police Department Officer John Bartholomew. 

Judge Beach redefined a “major violation” as an unapproved absence of three hours or more, down from a previous threshold of 48 hours, and noted that just 4% of program participants were considered AWOL before those new protocols took effect on Jan. 28. Court records show his staff failed to apply those protocols in Mr. Talley’s case. 

The Talley shooting was not the program’s first high-profile failure. Lawrence Reed was on electronic monitoring when he allegedly approached a woman from behind on a Chicago Blue Line train on Nov. 17, 2025, poured liquid on her, and set her on fire. Mr. Reed had violated his ankle monitor curfew five times in the days leading up to the attack, including on the day itself — but the state’s attorney’s office said it was not notified of those violations until after the attack occurred. 

The Office of the Chief Judge assumed responsibility for all new electronic monitoring participants on April 1, 2025, following the Cook County Sheriff’s transition out of the program. Judge Beach told WGN Investigates that the missing defendants are “actively being searched for right now by law enforcement.”