They are confined only by a GPS bracelet around their ankle, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

“Seventy-five to 80 percent of my people on home monitoring are charged with a violent offense,” Dart said. “I have about 100 people on home monitoring who are charged with murder.”

In an online discussion, Dart said most don’t re-offend while out on EM. But in 2017, reforms limited the use of cash bonds – increasing the number of violent offenders on home monitoring.

The sheriff said the Chief Judge’s office also runs a monitoring program, but the number of defendants enrolled in that program is a mystery to Dart.

“The notion of having two systems to me is illogical,” Dart said. “I have literally no idea how many people are in that program.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has formally asked Chief Judge Tim Evans for the most violent offenders to be locked up while awaiting trial and not allowed out with a bracelet.

“The cook county EM system is fundamentally broken in a way that is making our city unsafe,” Lightfoot said.

The chief judge rejecting that idea, saying in part, “The mayor’s proposal seems to require that defendants facing certain allegations be considered guilty until proven innocent.”