DuPage Will Aid Chicago In Emergency, Not Cover Shortage: Sheriff

Wheaton IL

21 October, 2021

2:50 PM

Description

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said he will send deputies to bolster Chicago law enforcement in an emergency, but not to cover a personnel shortage. A coordinator from the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System asked police departments in suburban Chicago if they would be willing to send their officers to respond to critical situations in Chicago due to a potential shortage of city police, according to a report from the Aurora Beacon-News. The request comes as Illinois State Police and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency make plans for the possibility of police shortages in Chicago following Mayor Lori Lightfoot's threat to place officers on unpaid leave if they won't show proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing, Patch reported. DuPage County helping out in such an emergency situation would be "business as usual," Mendrick told Patch. "We have always done emergency response on a specific incident," Mendrick said. "What we're not able to handle is personnel shortage coverage," he continued. "I'm short already on my head count. "If we had unlimited police officers, I'd love to help." Lightfoot announced a vaccine mandate for police officers Aug. 25 and set the deadline for Oct. 15. She later announced city employees who submit to twice-weekly COVID-19 testing could stay on the job past the deadline. Currently, about more than a third of Chicago police and more than a quarter of firefighters have not provided their vaccination status in the city's portal, Patch reported. Mendrick said he took and "encouraged the vaccines," estimating 75-80 percent of his deputies are vaccinated. "We're a real proponent of pushing the vaccine," Mendrick told Patch. "I just draw the line of playing the doctor's role of saying you have to get a vaccine." Mendrick questioned why Chicago leaders would place unvaccinated officers on leave, yet accept officers from other jurisdictions who also may not be vaccinated. "Why would she (Lightfoot) accept people who would be potentially unvaccinated or might not have that (vaccine) card?" he said. "She didn't want people who didn't fill that card out, but once she gets rid of them she wants to replace them with outside officers who also (are not vaccinated)." In neighboring Kane County, Sheriff Ron Hain said he would not send his deputies to Chicago unless a police officer is in danger. "I believe the polarization between the community and police is only reinforced by current Chicago politics," Hain said in his statement, published on the Kane County Sheriff's Office Facebook page late Monday night. "I will not send my personnel to Chicago, unless an officer is under direct duress, because I cannot support this slanted agenda," he continued. "I also will not allow my deputies to be subjected to use force in the city and be under the prosecutorial jurisdiction of the Cook County State's Attorney."