Kane sheriff GOP candidates differ on need for laboratory, accreditation

The two men seeking the Republican Party nomination for Kane County sheriff disagree on whether the office should seek accreditation and have a forensic laboratory.

The candidates are Elburn trustee Luis “Lou” Santoyo, a retired Cook County sheriff’s deputy who works for the Illinois Department of Corrections, and former Kane County coroner Rob Russell.

Russell worked for the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office for nearly 20 years, then was coroner from 2012 to 2024. He works for Harper College police and the Hampshire Police Department.

Russell said the office should seek accreditation from the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The work to be accredited could improve the office and provide proof to the county board why the sheriff’s office needs the money it requests, he said.

“The standards created by the accreditation agency are based on thousands of incidents, interactions and results with police agencies. County board members need articulable facts to understand why resources are needed,” Russell said in a candidate questionnaire.

He also believes becoming accredited could save the office money on insurance coverage.

Santoyo, however, said accreditation could be expensive and unnecessary.

“I don’t believe that accreditation is going to be the key for us to solve our crime problems and address our needs for service,” Santoyo said. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but it is expensive. It is more a want than a need.”

Forensic laboratory

Russell said continuing to develop the Kane County Forensic Laboratory is important to him. When he was the coroner, he started the effort in cooperation with Sheriff Ron Hain and State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser.

The county is building the lab in the sheriff’s office. It already has two technicians doing toxicology tests. The county has ordered equipment for rapid DNA testing and other tests.

“I just don’t understand why we are going to spend so much money on other things that are going to take away services to the community,” Santoyo said.

A federal grant and opioid manufacturer lawsuit settlement money are being used for the lab.

“We can’t just abandon this thing,” Russell said. He said the facility could generate revenue for the county by providing lab testing to other law enforcement agencies.

Santoyo disagrees.

“I don’t see how that (lab testing) is the sheriff’s responsibility,” he said. “It’s unheard of for a sheriff to be in charge of a crime lab.”

The DuPage County Sheriff’s Office has had a forensics lab since 1971.

Other issues

Santoyo said he has heard from people that deputies are not consistently visible on the streets and that response times are too long. He also said the jail is understaffed, leading to mandated overtime. He said he would reexamine how patrol deputies are deployed.

Russell said he would like to create an interagency regional property crimes task force, which would be especially helpful to smaller police departments that don’t have the resources to fully investigate such crimes.