Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart To Be Subject Of TV Pilot

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Mar 5, 2012 11:00PM

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart may be the subject of a new documentary television pilot, according to the Sun-Times' Michael Sneed. Film producers Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin have filmed some scenes at the Cook County Jail, and one of the storylines involves the beating and robbery of Dart's 80-year-old priest, Father Daniel Mallette. Sneed writes:

Sneed is told the documentary on Dart, who, except for a few years as a Cook County prosecutor had no previous law enforcement experience, will emphasize his compassionate approach. Dart put a temporary halt to evicting paying renters caught up in foreclosures; strenuously prosecutes animal cruelty complaints; and comes down hard on procurers of online teenage sex.

Producers Levin and Benjamin also worked with Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to create Brick City when he was the police chief in Newark. This isn't the first time Dart has been in front of the camera. He was also featured in a two-hour documentary on anti-prostitution policies Prostitution: Leaving the Life that aired last summer on the Oprah Winfrey Network.