GENEVA – The Kane County Judicial/Public Safety Committee unanimously recommended approval Thursday of a $50,000 fund transfer from Sheriff Ron Hain’s court security budget to fund a pre-arrest diversion manager in the State’s Attorney’s Office fora new program intended to reduce crime.
The funds would come from the sheriff’s court security budget, Hain said.
“This will truly serve public safety across Kane as we pilot a pre-arrest diversion program alongside (the) Elgin Police Department,” Hain said.
The pre-arrest diversion program would expand options for police to give a person who could be arrested a chance to receive assistance so they do not enter the criminal justice system or continue to commit crimes, State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said.
“When an officer encounters a person who is committing a crime, instead of placing the person under arrest, bringing them to the jail, then there’s a case number associated and they have to go through the court system … they’re going to be given the option to participate in this program,” Mosser said.
The person would be referred to the case manager who would walk them through the program and puts them under a contract, Mosser said.
“The contract is not admitting or even talking about the facts of the crime that’s alleged, but instead it’s talking about why the criminal behavior is occurring,” Mosser said. “We are looking for addiction issues, mental health issues or lack of resources such as homelessness. The case manager works with the person to refer them to treatment in our community as well as other resources.”
The case manager would have a list of organizations at the ready that could help a person in the pre-arrest diversion program, she said.
These include job training and finding a job, housing opportunities, and treatment for mental health and addiction issues, she said.
“We’re just getting them to treatment quicker without the stigma of having to arrest somebody and essentially criminalizing addition issues, mental health issues or lack of resources,” Mosser said. “It is an antiquated way of thinking when people believe that somehow just putting them into the system is the right thing. We need to do something better.”
If the pre-arrest diversion does not work, then ultimately charges would be filed, she said.
A personal story
Board member Michelle Gumz, D-Aurora, spoke of her brother, a former police officer in Aurora for 18 years who became addicted to painkillers after he was injured in a car accident.
“He ended up in jail and he lost every single thing he had. His house, his family, sometimes me,” Gumz said. “Had these programs been available to him at that time, my brother would not be in the position that he is in today. Although he is doing great, he works at a gas station because he has a criminal record that he cannot overcome, because these programs were not available to him. I personally support this with my whole heart.”
Training will aid officers, prosecutors
Hain said when police are confronted with someone who could be criminally charged, they have two options: put them in handcuffs and take them to jail or use officer discretion and let them walk away with no repercussions.
What would be different with the pre-arrest diversion program is that they would have a contract and receive supportive care, such as counseling or employment assistance, Hain said.
The training for officers and prosecutors will come from the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion or LEAD model from Seattle, Hain said.
“The training … just helps the officers identify different types of crimes because essentially what they’re looking for are low-level non-violent offenses,” Mosser said.
The training would aid the officer in considering whether the crime is related to addiction, mental health or lack of resources, she said.
For example, if the crime is retail theft, it could be related to the person stealing to sell the items to buy drugs, Mosser said.
“We would have a restorative justice aspect that we at the State’s Attorney’s Office would take on with that particular store to make sure that they understand what it is that we are doing and this person again takes accountability to that store or victim in that case,” Mosser said.
Mosser said, it will be “an easy sale” for other police departments, once they see how it is working.
‘One night in jail’
Kane County Public Defender Rachele Conant spoke to the committee about the clients who would likely be best served by this program.
“Being from the other side where we see those people once they have had the arrest, especially for our clients where they are living paycheck to paycheck,” Conant said. “They have jobs that don’t provide time off so even one night in jail completely upends their life. If they lose their job, that’s a spiral effect, then they lose their housing, they lose their cell phone. At that point, they are then homeless, and unfortunately, the cycle of crime continues.”
Conant said many clients have addiction and mental health issues.
“If we had the ability to get to them right from the beginning, I think there are many people we could turn around and would not see back in the system again,” Conant said. “I truly believe in this program. And I think based upon the research, it supported that if you can save that one night in jail, you really are saving the person all the way around.”
Continued funding
As to how the program would be funded beyond its start up year, Mosser said much like the current deferred prosecution programs, there are fees.
“As a result of that, you start to bring in some revenue that we did not have before,” Mosser said. “As we show the success of this we are able to apply for different programs and grant funding, including deflection money that has been offered to the state of Illinois, highlighted in our new crime bill. Because again the idea is to get people out of the criminal justice system.”
What is needed now is the money to get the program started and show the need and how it’s working, Mosser said. She said she was confident the program would get grant funding to continue.
Hain said he was willing to help back that program up with court security budget going forward.
“Court operations have truly changed and we need much less operating funds in our court security budget,” Hain said. “We are comfortable going forward helping the state’s attorney along with her salary and the $115,000 one we did earlier.”
Hain was referring to financial support from his budget so Mosser could hire a Chief of the Criminal Division.
The committee’s recommendation will proceed to the Finance and Budget Committee and the Executive Committee for consideration and then to the County Board for final action.