FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2024

Teamsters Local 700 Demands Cook County Sheriff Provide Clarity on Proposed Changes to the Electronic Monitoring Program

PARK RIDGE, ILL. – Teamsters Local 700 is demanding Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart provide a clear statement of his proposed changes to the county's Electronic Monitoring program, which currently has about 1,500 participants. While it is rumored that the Sheriff's Office may abandon or seek to transfer responsibility for the Electronic Monitoring program, there is still no publicly disclosed plan for the program, the participants in the program, the workers who administer the program, or the potential impact to the public at large.

"Electronic Monitoring is a critical public safety tool that helps keep our communities safe while keeping offenders out of our jails," said Teamsters Local 700 President Ramon Williams. "If Sheriff Dart intends to make changes to this program, the public deserves plenty of time to understand these changes and the potential impact they may have on public safety. We urge Sheriff Dart to release his plan and work with us to ensure it prioritizes both our members and all of Cook County."

The Electronic Monitoring program provides 24-hour monitoring, can track a participant who is not where they are supposed to be, and can provide rapid face to face intervention by investigators who are highly trained in law enforcement tactics. Those in the Electronic Monitoring program are currently monitored by certified sworn peace officers, Local 700 members who perform participant monitoring, crime deterrence patrols, drug and firearm recovery operations, participant home checks, participant compliance checks, and more.

If these services were to shutter, there would be the potential for 1,500 individuals who were previously monitored to either be released into the community with no monitoring at all or to be re-incarcerated at Cook County Jail. If these services were to be transferred to another entity, such as the Office of The Chief Judge Adult Probation Department, there would be a serious impact to the safety of the community as the level of monitoring and intervention would be significantly downgraded.

Local 700 has been notified that the Sheriff's Office is planning a potential change to the program but has not been provided any kind of clear plan with details about what would happen to participants, workers, or community. This plan is especially critical as Cook County begins its budget process for the next fiscal year.

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Teamsters Local 700 is a public sector union, representing more than 10,000 public employees at the state, county and municipal levels across Illinois.