After a Lake County Board vote last week over a Sheriff’s Office training funding item sparked a lengthy debate about the county’s 911 consolidation, Sheriff John Idleburg said the office is standing by its decision not to join the new dispatch center, and lambasted some board members for playing “political games.”
In a statement, Idleburg criticized the board’s decision to indefinitely delay the agenda item, calling it “extremely disappointing and concerning.”
The item in question was roughly $100,000 for getting the Sheriff’s 911 dispatchers emergency medical dispatch training and certification, which is a state requirement, although a waiver has been in place since 2022.
According to a LakeComm official, the training is required to dispatch an ambulance, however the Sheriff’s Office is a law enforcement-only dispatch. Board Chair Sandy Hart noted that a Sheriff’s Office dispatcher will have to transfer a call requiring EMD, which “may delay emergency medical services.”
In an unusual divide for the County Board, the item was indefinitely tabled by an 11-8 vote, with Hart saying it would reopen the item if the state were to end the waiver.
During and after last week’s discussion, board members on both sides of the vote reiterated their desire to see the Sheriff’s Office ultimately join LakeComm, the county’s consolidated public safety answering point and emergency dispatch agency, and bring its dispatchers into the Regional Operations Center building in Libertyville.
But there have been mixed signals about whether such a move is likely to happen in the near future.
While many board members remain confident, Idleburg in a statement raised his issues with the consolidation process and said collaboration is “difficult, if not impossible” with the County Board due to some members who, “mislead the public, meddle in Sheriff’s Office operations, and play political games with 9-1-1 service.”
The Sheriff’s Office had pulled out of consolidation several years ago, citing concerns over increased costs and a reduction in Sheriff’s Office services that would, “put our community at risk of slower response times,” Idleburg said. That conclusion “has not changed” since the opening of the ROC, he said.
“We are not in active discussions about joining in the future, after prior discussion did not yield results,” he said. “While we remain open to any proposal that can demonstrably improve both service and fiscal responsibility, the plan as it exists today does not meet those standards.”
Hart said the sheriff has not expressed any interest to her about joining LakeComm.
Concerns over methods
Esiah Campos is one of the eight board members who voted against tabling the training item. While he wants the Sheriff’s Office to join LakeComm, he balked at the idea of using the agenda item to pressure the sheriff into consolidation.
Campos called the vote an “endangerment of public safety,” and feels the sheriff’s concerns are “falling on deaf ears.” Campos, talking about the vote, warned that, “strong-arming somebody into a relationship is starting off on a bad foot.”
“I’m disheartened that the vote went how it went,” he said. “It rests on the chair to put it back on the agenda, since she has control of that.”
He said that in discussions, Idleburg has spoken positively about consolidation in the future, although his issues and concerns remain.
Board member Carissa Casbon, who also voted against tabling the item, said she is “surprised” it sparked conversations regarding consolidation. It “should not have been a tricky topic,” she said, arguing it was a state-mandated training that would make dispatchers better at handling a variety of calls.
She too voiced her support for consolidation, but opposition to using the agenda item as leverage.
“Usually the Lake County Board does the right things for the right reasons,” she said. “This is not our finest hour. I hope we can do better moving forward.”
Board member Adam Schlick, a first responder himself, attributed his vote in favor of tabling in part due to what he’s seen in his work. People’s emergency calls get “bounced around,” he said.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “It’s something the residents don’t deserve.”
Part of the goal with LakeComm and the ROC is to reduce call transfers, and it “just makes sense” to get the Sheriff’s Office dispatchers into the building, Schlick said.
Schlick said he has spoken with the sheriff and his team regarding consolidation, and while he understands their concerns, he feels they could have been worked out through the consolidation process.
“It was in its infancy when he bailed out,” Schlick said. “I think if he had stayed in long enough and talked to Executive Director (Jason) Kern, those questions could have been answered.”
Kern, for his part, said he’d be “happy” to sit with the sheriff and have conversations about consolidation and concerns over services.
Schlick repeated a sentiment raised during the meeting by some board members — that it is fiscally irresponsible to have a second dispatch center. The vote was a bipartisan move for “what’s better for the whole,” he argued, and “the best thing for county residents.”
Idleburg said the sheriff “must be able to control his own operations,” arguing dispatchers need to carry out unique, law enforcement-specific tasks at the sheriff’s directions, such as deploying to scenes in a mobile command post. That “control and direct accountability is lost” in a consolidated system, he said.
“The men and women of our dispatch center are an extension of our command staff, and weakening that connection would diminish our ability to respond effectively in life-or-death moments,” Idleburg said.
In regard to call transfers, Idleburg pushed back on what he called “misleading” statements. He said that call transfers will remain, with nearly 20 police departments and fire districts across the county not part of LakeComm.
That includes Waukegan, which is moving forward with its own 911 dispatch operations center that may take on several neighboring communities as well.
Rumors spark legal warning
In his statement, Idleburg also raised allegations of “discussions” by some board members “about reducing or defunding Sheriff’s Office dispatch operations. Such a move would “directly jeopardize public safety,” Idleburg said, and he promises to take legal action “if necessary.”
“Litigation is always a last resort, but if our ability to protect this community is threatened, we will not hesitate to act,” he said.
Idleburg said the office stands by its independent dispatch center, which he called a “gold standard” for the area.
“Until a regional plan can guarantee equal or better service at equal or lower cost, while preserving the Sheriff’s ability to direct his own operations, joining would not be in the best interest of Lake County,” he said.
