Cook County to Rent Accountability

By Kevin Robinson in News on Mar 29, 2007 1:50PM

Late last month the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to disband the Stroger Hospital Police Department, in response to allegations of abuse and unnecessary roughness. You may remember back in September when three Stroger Hospital police officers were accused of pulling a 77-year-old man from his car and beating him in front of the medical center. And last month Sun-Times reporter Steve Patterson was "roughed up and manhandled" by that same police force as he covered a protest at the hospital. And back in 2002, an officer knocked a pregnant patient into a counter, leading to her miscarriage.

Now the cops are fighting back. Last week they held a demonstration to try to change public opinion of the department. "These gentlemen are well-trained professional police officers who can take action when an arrest is necessary," Joe Mazzone, hospital police spokesman told the press. Sgt. Edwin Hernandez echoed that sentiment, saying, "We're not goons. We're not gestapos. And we do not do what they say we did."

We're not taking sides with the cops on this one. It's a fact that there are problems with the hospital police force, not the least of which is that it, like much of the county, is a patronage dumping ground, littered with political hacks that have no real skill and hardly serve the public interest. What bothers us about the county board's decision is the alternative: replacing the hospital police force with contract security guards. With Cook County's awful reputation for mismanaging contracts, and its leadership's propensity for giving lucrative deals to their friends, we're not sure how good of an idea this really is. We can't help but wonder if this is actually going to benefit anyone but friends of the Toddler. Given the kind of crazy shit that happens at that hospital (stabbings and escaped inmates, anyone?), we think that there are better solutions to the lack of accountability and professionalism that seems to be endemic to the police force there. We think it would make more sense if Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart took over security at the hospital. Certainly minimum-wage security guards won't increase accountability, or safety, at Stroger Hospital.

Image via Militree.