A group of west suburban police chiefs sent a letter to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to "express extreme disappointment" with the Board's decision not to enforce immigration detainers.
The board passed an ordinance Sept. 7 following a federal ruling in Indiana that called for the previously mandatory 48-hour detainers placed on immigrant offenders pending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) review to be made optional. Counties may now opt out of the federal mandate requiring felony and misdemeanor offenders to be held an extra two days while ICE determines whether or not they should be deported.
Preckwinkle heralded this decision as a cost-saving venture for a county that is billions of dollars in debt, and encouraged the federal government to contribute the $142.80 per day required to house an inmate who has posted bond. She also suggested this ordinance could cause undue hardship to undocumented immigrants over minor offenses.
"It's important to recognize that this is about improving public safety, it's about serving our taxpayers better and it's about keeping families together," Preckwinkle said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
But Thomas Weitzel, Chief of the Riverside Police Department and President of the West Suburban Police Chiefs Association says the ordinance extends beyond his expectations and could put citizens and police officers at risk.
"Many serious criminals are arrested on minor violations, and that's when they first come in contact with the police, which is when we find out about felony warrants," Weitzel told the Huffington Post. "They may go in for a misdemeanor but have a very violent background. [Releasing them] places the citizens of Cook County at a greater risk, and certainly places the police officers of Cook County at a greater risk."
Weitzel wrote the letter to Preckwinkle on behalf of the West Suburban Police Chiefs Association, which expresses alarm that the ordinance makes detainers optional for felony charges as well as misdemeanors. The letter also cites a Sept. 9 incident where an immigrant detainee out on bond verbally and physically assaulted a Chicago police officer during a routine traffic stop. The offender would have been held in the custody of the federal government if the ordinance had not been passed two days before, the letter suggests.
Weitzel says he recognizes the financial burden of honoring the federal detention mandate, but that, in this case, the cost is justified by the risk avoided.
"$142.80 per inmate, per day. The cost of those two days, that amount of money, we believe, is a cost that needs to be absorbed by the county, or the county should work up an arrangement for the federal government to make payment," Weitzel said. "There is a financial impact to holding them, but we believe the greater impact is in releasing these offenders into the community before they clear all holds, including immigration holds."
Furthermore, Weitzel argues that undocumented offenders who know they won't be detained after posting bond pose a higher risk to police and to the community. He said this ordinance demonstrates a degree of disregard for the safety of officers in the field:
"It seems commonplace in Illinois these days that police officers are just expected to be the victims of serious assaults and batteries placed upon them as part of their 'job'.
At times, the Cook County Court System does not even take aggravated battery to police officers with great seriousness. Bonds are typically set low; Assistant States Attorneys (at times) require the injured officer actually be hospitalized, when this is absolutely not the law. If the Board allows this new ordinance to stand, be assured there will be future instances where Cook County residents will be seriously injured or killed by individuals who had been in custody and released while still having federal holds placed against them."
The letter calls for the board to immediately review the ordinance and reconsider the decision.
Preckwinkle's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.