Kramer says Kane Co. jail, number of sworn officers must expand
A larger police force and a jail built out to its full size potential are two main goals of Kane County Sheriff candidate Don Kramer that stand in contrast both to his GOP opponent in the primary and incumbent Sheriff Pat Perez.
Kramer said the 90 sworn officers the sheriff's department is currently authorized to have are not enough to patrol the county the way it should be done. Perez went along with the county board's decision to cut the number of sworn officers to 90 after initially supporting a cut to 87 sworn officers, then changing his mind. Recent cuts in the department now leave the actual head count at 86 sworn officers. Kramer's opponent in the primary, Rob Russell, said 90 sworn officers are enough to patrol the streets if the department becomes less top heavy.
Kramer agrees the department is top heavy, but said it was a mistake to ever let the department get down to 90 sworn officers.
"We were at 95 or 96 sworn officers depending on who you talk to just six months ago," Kramer said. "I don't think any ground should've been given. Even 96 sworn deputies is not enough."
Kramer said at least six more sworn officers are needed, plus reassignment of some current officers to put more manpower on the streets. The proof of that need, Kramer said, was a study of the department that showed deputies on patrol spend 70 percent of their time responding to calls. Kramer said that level should only be about 50 percent to allow deputies to do visible, preventive patrols in the problematic areas of the county to deter crime in the first place. Kramer, a recent retiree from the department, said response times were about 4 minutes to any part of the county for emergencies the last time he checked. However, calls with less priority, such as a mailbox being smashed, take up to 30 minutes to respond to. That's bad service, Kramer said.
"That is a long time to wait, and I think the citizens deserve a better response time," Kramer said. "Right now, the call load is so heavy that calls generally get backed up right at the beginning of an officer's shift. If the call load is that heavy, who is doing the preventive patrols? We need more deputies."
Getting more deputies means finding more money to pay for them. Kramer said the county must do a better job in securing state and federal grants that help subsidize salaries and extra patrols in the form of traffic and DUI enforcement dollars. Kramer said sheriff's deputies patrol areas with the highest number of traffic fatalities in the area, and a case must be made to secure more of those grant dollars.
Another idea Kramer has would take substantially more money. Kramer said the county should've opened all the cell blocks available in the space that came with the new county jail. While it would've been cheaper to do that at the time of the original construction, Kramer said those 128 additional cells are needed now.
"There were goals to achieve to bring the project in on time and under budget," Kramer said. "What was sacrificed when you brought it in on time and under budget was the fact that we're sitting there with 128 cells that aren't completed. The public expects you to be financially responsible. Nonetheless, you should have room in your jail to host the inmates you need to."
Kramer said the county and the state's attorney's office has done a great job making sure inmates who don't need to be in the jail while they await a resolution to their charges aren't taking up space needed for violent offenders. However, Kramer believes the jail is at or nearing a point where even those efforts aren't enough. And more corrections officers are needed as well, Kramer said.
"What is the impact on the area when we release someone who's been charged with a felony?" Kramer said. "Right now, there are not enough officers at the jail to handle the shifts in a safe and effective manner. The sheriff must work with the county board to see how we can come up with the finances to get more officers and those additional cells completed."