CPD spokesman laughs off Tom Dart's assertion he is helping fight crime in Chicago. Dart ran a few sweeps in Chicago last week hoping for media glory... Instead, he was defending his 'embellished' role as CPD publically humiliates him..
As the violence in Chicago's streets hits the peak summer months, City Hall is receiving reinforcements of sorts from a surprising source: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, whose office has begun putting extra boots on the ground in high-crime city neighborhoods. So, the Chicago Police Department is graciously thanking the sheriff for his assistance in its time of need, and the sheriff is modestly just trying to do what he can?
Not exactly...
Since late May, Dart says his office has been sending as many as 150 uniformed personnel a day into high-crime city neighborhoods, concentrating on the 11th and 15th districts on the West Side and the 7th District on the South Side. A fair amount of the routine stuff is involved, but the bigger idea is to create "a heightened police presence," Dart says.
Last summer's effort ran six weeks and involved no more than 100 officers at a time. But, the sheriff told me, "This sort of concerted operation is different. It's the kind of thing we do in Harvey," a south suburb known for high crime and little ability to do anything about it. Street patrols "absolutely" are part of what his folks are doing, Dart says.
I hear a less dramatic story from folks at City Hall, who suggest that the sheriff is embellishing his role. Ditto CPD, though it's polite about it.
"CPD partners closely with the sheriff's office, along with a number of other law enforcement agencies, in a variety of ways to ensure public safety in neighborhoods throughout Chicago," said department spokeswoman Jennifer Rottner. Among those activities that the sheriff's police are performing: "Warrant checks, probation checks, random drug testing and evictions. These are the same services sheriff's deputies perform on a daily basis all over the county."
Dart's office is sticking by its statement that sheriff's deputies are engaged in hard-core street patrols and not just doing backup police work.
"I think the sheriff is referring to patrol in the more general sense, whereas these folks at the city may be objecting to the more narrow notion that sheriff's police is out there writing speeding tickets or responding to CPD's calls for service, which of course is not the case," said his spokesman, Ben Breit. "This is a concentrated, strategic initiative by the sheriff to proactively address the most distressed parts of the city, with no less than 100 officers at a time flooding these areas to focus on illegal guns, gang violence, drug trafficking and more.
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