When we spoke to the Democratic nominee for Cook County state’s attorney earlier this month, we were struck by the change in Eileen O’Neill Burke. Now that Burke, 59, does not have to fight off a primary rival from her left — and one endorsed by the current officeholder, Kim Foxx, and the Cook County Democratic powerbroker Toni Preckwinkle to boot — the retired appellate court judge seemed better able to articulate a major shift in direction for an office that has been on the leading edge of progressive prosecutorial experimentation, but that many Chicagoans feel has been overly disinclined to prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law. The Burke who came to see us this time around was confident, determined and resolute. “This is a hard job,” she said. “And my approach to the office will be different in many respects from that of my predecessor.” Evidently, that will include attempts to send more people to jail. Burke, who clearly is preparing extensively to assume office, said she had conversations with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart about his capacity for an increased jailhouse population and received an assurance that there was room. If and when necessary. Burke wants to send a message to those who brandish lethal weapons as part of gang activity or hold up drivers or convenience store clerks. “There were 760 people shot in Chicago this summer alone,” she said, by way of reminding us of what has become both frequently under-reported and routine, “with a mass shooting every single weekend. We need to get control.” After that, she outlined multiple strategies for change, including increases in the number of prosecutions and, if she has her way, more people being detained as they await trial rather than released back into their neighborhoods to terrorize folks some more. Her toolbox, she said, will include making use of the assault weapons ban, including its application to so-called switches or bump stocks that can turn a handgun into a mechanized weapon of mass destruction on the streets of Chicago. “People,” Burke told us, “want their children to be able to go outside and not be shot. That should not be a privilege.” Indeed it should not. “I want Chicago to be the safest big city in America,” Burke said.  “And I believe we can get there if everyone works together.”  What person who loves this city could argue with that? Burke said the office, if she’s in charge, now will ask for detention “each and every time a crime is committed with a weapon or where hospitalization results.” She says the simple reality in her business is that “when you fail to prosecute something, you get more of it.” That sounds like common sense, but that has not always been the way this office has operated. Tribune Editorial Board endorsements for the 2024 general election All that said, we don’t think Burke will be turn out to be some lock ’em up, law-and-order fanatic. We find her commitment to restorative justice sincere, and we were impressed when she said that she planned to use that commitment as a recruiting tool to fill the many vacancies in that office with true believers in the possibility of changing lives. “There are a lot of graduating law students who want to work with multiple agencies on getting people back on track and turned around,” she said. “And we plan to offer unparalleled training in this office to make the best people want to work here.” What will befall future protesters representing one cause or another at demonstrations? “I will defend someone’s right to protest to my dying breath,” Burke said. “But that right does not mean you can inhibit the commerce of a city or stop people from getting wherever they have to go.” Aside from such good ideas as beefing up training and tapping retired judges and the like to help with her effort to fill vacant gaps and otherwise turn around this office, we expect Burke to prove a team player. She spoke admiringly of Chicago’s police chief, Larry Snelling, calling him “the real deal.” She argues that if Kamala Harris is elected president, Burke will be able to work with a former prosecutor who can and will help in her work, especially when combined with regional task forces against gun violence. And Burke seemed to us fully cognizant that a perception of high crime often wreaks the same economic damage on a city as actual high crime. As such, she said, the Cook County state’s attorney also has to pay attention to how safe people are, or are not, feeling when they are on a CTA train or elsewhere in the city. That was refreshing. Burke will also have to work with Preckwinkle, the Cook County president, who did not support her in the primary and who did not seem overly warm to Burke when we met separately a few days later with Preckwinkle, who controls the Cook County purse strings and told us the state’s attorney’s budget would be flat next year. But that doesn’t mean Burke can’t fill her currently budgeted vacancies. And, yet more importantly, we trust these two practical women to work together after the election to keep Chicagoans safe. Burke does have a rival in the familiar candidate and former alderman Bob Fioretti, running as a Republican because, he told us, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.” We have respect for the 71-year-old Fioretti’s long history of public service and enjoyed our conversation. But it was clear that his level of preparation for a role that includes not just prosecuting crimes and making the residents of Cook County feel safe but the management of some 1,300 employees was hardly comparable to that of Burke. Fioretti did not express any ideas for running the office that Burke had not also discussed in our separate meeting in a far more detailed fashion. And she came up with plenty that Fioretti did not mention. “I am going to do what state’s attorneys are supposed to do: “Work with police officers and not against them,” he said to us. “If someone commits violent crime, I am going to be merciless.” If elected, Fioretti also emphasized, he would be “the first civil rights attorney to be elected to this office,” and he argued that voters should take that personal background into consideration. By all means. But we think the right choice is crystal clear in this race, and should be equally as clear for law-and-order Republicans as for Democrats who also trust their state’s attorney to understand that a criminal’s life sometimes can be turned around, especially if they make mistakes when young. Very few Chicagoans believe that being tough on crime means no place for mercy or a second chance. Burke is a woman on a mission to restore a sense of pride to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. We believe that with the right support, she will effectively, aggressively and compassionately prosecute the core missions of seeking justice, protecting victims, reducing violent crime and keeping this county safe. Eileen O’Neill Burke is endorsed. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].