Long Grove board candidates debate quality of policing

Long Grove currently does not have its own police department, receiving services instead from the Lake County sheriff under a $600,000 contract.

Candidates for Long Grove trustee are, for the most part, satisfied with the arrangement, although some are suggesting there is room for improvement.

One candidate, former Chicago police detective Pat Tode, feels the village would be better served by hiring someone to handle the public safety duties.

Tode pointed out that the current contract provides 17 man-hours of coverage per day with an overlapping shift in the afternoon, meaning, he said, that the village has no coverage during the midnight hours.

"Quite frankly, we're not getting any bang for our buck," he said. "Typically, at board meetings, the sheriff shows up and he says, 'I have no report.' And at $50,000 a month, that's kind of unacceptable."

He has suggested the village should appoint a town marshal, a certified police officer who can serve as a liaison with the sheriff's office along with neighboring communities to keep informed on police matters. He suggested establishing an office and acquiring a computer system to store data and secure information. Meanwhile, the village could renegotiate with the sheriff and use the savings for infrastructure costs.

Tode has suggested that, given his extensive experience in law enforcement, he could serve as the town marshal, adding that he is willing to do it without a salary.

"I have got a lifetime history as a law enforcement professional."

The other four candidates were skeptical.

Anne Kritzmire, a managing director of marketing and strategy, said that the relationship with the sheriff's office "seems good and responsive." She did allow, though, that communication could be improved when crimes occur or safety concerns rear their head.

"One of my goals will be to use technology in a smarter way to ensure relevant crime and safety information is pushed to residents, faster, and in the manner each resident desires," she said.

Incumbent Trustee John Marshall is satisfied with the status quo, saying, "I believe our police and fire services are very efficient and well run and are ahead of the curve for being prepared for the future.

"The sheriff's department does a great job for us," he said. "We get all the use of their facilities," including, he said, animal control. "I don't know if we need somebody to watch over that. I think it would be just another level of problems."

"We're having trouble handling our budget right now, let alone adding more to it," he said, saying, regarding the terseness of reports to trustees, "There's a lot of things they can't say at a public meeting."

Rita O'Connor, a real estate broker/manager and attorney, said she believes the sheriff's office has kept residents safe, but said she is concerned that the response times are sometimes longer than she would like. She said there are advantages to having the sheriff, since deputies have dashcams, defibrillators and supplies of naloxone. Also, the sheriff has detectives, she said, something that would not be the case if Long Grove had its own police department.

She said the village does have coverage in the middle of the night.

"We had that issue a few months ago, where a young man was trying to break into a resident's house through the basement window. I think that was at 4 o'clock in the morning, and police were there immediately," she said.

She said she has looked up what Kildeer spends on police, saying, "They are a community of 4,000 residents, which is half of Long Grove. We pay for $600,000 for police coverage to the Lake County Sheriff. Kildeer's police budget for 2016 was $2,050,000. We're not paying insurance. We're not buying squad cars. We're not putting money into pensions. I think the $600,000 is great."

Bobbie O'Reilly, a Realtor who previously served on the Buffalo Grove village board and the Lake County Board, said the service provided by the sheriff is "an efficient use of dollars in that we don't have to pay for multiple layers of supervision. It is provided by the Sheriff's Department. Financially we could not provide a full police department but have a full department available if we need it."

"If you look at other communities of our size and those who have chosen to go to the police department that has their name on it, their cost is probably triple what we spent. We're not only economical, but we get very good service for it."