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Police chiefs don't want Downers Grove field court moved

Police chiefs from southeast DuPage County are lobbying against the possible closing of the Downers Grove traffic court, saying it would trigger funding and staffing issues for their departments.

Amid calls for increased security at all four of DuPage's traffic courts, county board members are studying safety concerns at the Downers Grove location in American Legion Post 80 on Saratoga Avenue.

If security can't be improved there, officials are reviewing other options, including the possibility of moving the field court to another spot in southeast DuPage.

Representatives from the Downers Grove, Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Lisle, Hinsdale and Woodridge police departments attended a county board committee meeting Tuesday because one idea under consideration calls for the field court to be moved to the main courthouse in Wheaton.

While there's more security at the main courthouse, Downers Grove Chief Robert Porter said moving the field court to Wheaton would require his officers to spend more time traveling.

"To go all the way up to Wheaton in rush hour and come back, that could definitely have an impact on our staffing in the streets," Porter said. "We'd be pulling officers out of the neighborhoods to come up here and go back."

Hinsdale Chief Bradley Bloom said moving the field court to Wheaton would add about 15 miles to the trip his officers make. It also would take those officers longer to find parking on the county campus and walk to a courtroom.

"You're adding on significant time and expense for us," Bloom said. "The cost for us would go up dramatically."

Meanwhile, Bloom said he doesn't understand why the county is even considering moving the Downers Grove field court. He said he's not aware of any problems with the security protocols that have long been in place at that site.

"All of the sudden, we're looking for a solution and I'm not convinced there's a problem," Bloom said.

The discussion about security at the satellite courts started when DuPage Chief Judge Kathryn E. Creswell raised concerns last month.

"I don't think that the right question to ask is how many incidents (have happened)," Creswell said at the time, "but how can we prevent one from happening."

Creswell said judges can become targets of "disgruntled litigants" and it can happen regardless of whether a judge is hearing a felony, divorce, foreclosure or traffic case.

Creswell, however, didn't recommend any specific security changes at the field courts. In addition to the Downers Grove site, the other field courts are in Addison, Glendale Heights and Wheaton.

DuPage currently has one sheriff's deputy assigned to each of the four traffic court locations.

Porter offered to assist any effort to make the Downers Grove site safer.

"If there's something we can do to try and enhance the security at that facility," Porter said, "we'd love to help."

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