Saturday, August 13, 2011

Cook County warrants go public

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is publishing the names of 45,000 subjects of warrants on his website! Just check out http://www.cookcountysheriff.com/

And why not? Aside from the embarrassing fact that there are 45,000 unserved warrants in his department, publicizing the names will help resolve many cases. No doubt each person learning of the list will check to see if his name is there. Names and last-known addresses are shown. (I'll save you the time; my name is not there.)

I wonder if requiring a ZIP Code limits the search to the last name within a given ZIP Code. It appears searches can be made by last name or by ZIP Code. ZIP Codes for Woodstock, Wonder Lake, Crystal Lake and McHenry are not listed, which quickly raises my suspicions about the listings. Is it possible there are no warrants out of 45,000 for persons who had addresses in these four communities?
How many unserved warrants are there at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department? How old is the oldest warrant? Remember when the Warrants Sweeps team trucked all the way to Bourbonnais to collar a "dangerous" person who had been "hiding" in plain view for 13 years? A judge threw that one out!

In five days I'll know.

Also, on Sheriff Dart's website you can search for information about inmates of his jail.

And in McHenry County? No way.

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