Wheeling will keep jail deal with Prospect Heights

People arrested in Prospect Heights will continue to be jailed in Wheeling.

The Wheeling village board agreed to renew the contract between the two municipalities for another year at the Monday village board meeting. The contract will renew automatically from now on until one of the municipalities cancels it.

“It allows us to put our officers out on the street,” Prospect Heights Police Chief Jamie Dunne said. “They’ve been very helpful. It’s provided a needed service.”

The arrangement between Prospect Heights and Wheeling has been in effect for the past six months. Prospect Heights has jailed 19 people in Wheeling since February.

Wheeling Deputy Police Chief John Teevans said the two police forces have a “great working relationship.”

Prospect Heights officers watched a training video created by the Wheeling Police Department to explain Wheeling’s booking procedures, which were a little different from those used in Prospect Heights. Prospect Heights pays Wheeling $75 a night per arrestee. Since February, Wheeling has been paid $2,175 under the agreement.

Prospect Heights had to close its jail because its police station is not open 24 hours a day due to budget constraints.

“Our first priority is to get officers on the street,” Dunne said. “As the economy improves, we’ll look into staffing the police station full time, which we’d need to do to house the prisoners.”