Lake Co. sheriff candidate accuses incumbent of profiling

A Democratic candidate for Lake County sheriff is accusing incumbent Sheriff Mark Curran of racial profiling by encouraging traffic stops against Hispanic drivers.

John Krempotic, a Democrat from North Chicago, said during a Daily Herald endorsement interview that Curran may not have specifically ordered sheriff's deputies to stop Hispanic drivers, but that "it's encouraged ... that (deputies) target the Latino population."

Curran said the statement is a "boldfaced lie" and anti-bias data collected in 2009 backs him up.

"We have numerous statistics proving that statement to be completely untrue," Curran said. "But we also have performed numerous outreach programs specifically geared toward the Latino community, and hired numerous qualified Latino deputies to serve at the Lake County Sheriff's Office."

Krempotic, a former sheriff's deputy, is facing Democrat Douglas R. Roberts, a lawyer from Waukegan, in the Democratic primary in February. The winner of that race will move on to face Curran, a Republican, in November. Curran is unopposed in the primary.

Roberts did not return phone calls seeking comment on the issue.

Krempotic first accused Curran of profiling Hispanic drivers in a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire. He reiterated those beliefs during an editorial board endorsement interview Tuesday.

Krempotic said in the questionnaire, "Currently, the sheriff's department is targeting all citizens who appear to be of Hispanic descent. This includes those of Italian, Greek and European ancestry. This amounts to racial profiling, which I will not stand for."

He added during the interview that he has met with Hispanic leaders and community members - specifically from the Chapala Group of Waukegan - who have expressed their concerns that Hispanic drivers are being targeted by Lake County sheriff's police.

Jose Luis Vavala, president of the Chapala Group, confirmed his endorsement of Krempotic, adding Curran encourages deputies to target Hispanic drivers.

However, Curran said statistics compiled in an anti-bias data collection project at the Lake County Sheriff's Office in 2009 prove otherwise.

According to the report, Hispanics make up 18 percent of the county population, and 19 percent of the traffic stops have been on vehicles driven by Hispanics.

In turn, whites make up 71 percent of the county population and 69 percent of traffic stops by the sheriff's office.

"This seems to be an opportunity for (Krempotic) to throw lies out there, play on distortions of the truth and play on prejudices," Curran said. "I think this stems from being outspoken about illegal immigration because 20 percent of the inmates in my jail are illegal immigrants."