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Not county's role to micromanage sheriff

Recently, the Daily Herald published articles regarding Sheriff Zaruba and DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin. These articles were misleading. They sensationalized "politics and posturing" and failed to address fundamental issues.

The sheriff's office is not a department under the direction and control of the county board. It is an office headed by the sheriff, a constitutional officer elected by the people. The county board cannot and should not attempt to micromanage the sheriff's office by intrusive budgetary control. The conflict is that the board does have authority to determine the aggregate amount of money allocated to the sheriff's office.

While the current issues of communication appear to be more process than substance, the victims will be deputies who serve when it is unusually dangerous to be a police officer. Safe squad cars are a critical tool. Failure to replace squads on a regular basis "kicks the can" down the road and places officer safety at risk and shifts greater costs to maintenance to prolong non-roadworthy vehicles.

In a litigious society, failure to have and support in-dash cameras and individual body cameras does not protect officers or the county in the event of allegations against officers or, more importantly, acquire visual evidence for on-going investigations of all types. The efforts of the board to use these as bargaining chips with the sheriff appear political in nature.

Issues regarding the Explorer program fit the same category. Were it not for the unfortunate situation in Fox Lake, why this would ever have been raised? This program is led by officers who volunteer to provide opportunities for young people to explore a career in law enforcement. John Zaruba has served as a police officer for 41 years. It is unfortunate that a political spitting match has detracted from a significant body of good work by a good man on behalf of the citizens of DuPage County.

James Hatcher

Wheaton

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