Sheriff Tom Dart discusses his prison reforms at Chicago’s Cook County Jail

The word «sheriff» brings to mind hardened lawmen from Westerns who draw their guns even faster than the bandits. Tom Dart doesn’t fit this cliché. The historian with a doctorate in law is the chief of police of Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Cook County also includes Chicago and the Cook County Jail, one of the largest jails in the U.S. The once notorious conditions there have improved radically under Dart’s leadership. It was the first American prison to abolish solitary confinement in 2016. Dart also initiated numerous educational programs for inmates. He is also involved in the fight against the opioid crisis, which has claimed over one million lives in the U.S. since the end of the 1990s.

Since taking office in 2006, Dart has been reelected sheriff every four years. In 2009, Time Magazine voted him one of the top 100 most influential people in the world. The NZZ sat down with Dart to discuss his career as sheriff.

Mr. Dart, it seems to me that the U.S. is strongly polarized when it comes to crime and drugs. One can either take a hard line with policing and arrests, or one can rely on social work and limiting damage. How do you see it?

Even when I became sheriff 18 years ago, I knew that I needed both. The ideologically charged distinction between «tough» and «soft» isn’t productive. You can’t solve the drug problem with arrests alone, if only because people aren’t free to choose to take drugs or not. That is the nature of addiction. Arresting someone and threatening them that they’ll go to prison next time isn’t a deterrent because often, an addict can’t stop even when they want to. However, the discussions – even among police officers – are more sophisticated today than they were 20 years ago.

In what way?

People stigmatize addicted people less than they used to. This has to do with the fact that the opioid crisis is affecting families across the board. It is no longer simply «others» who are dehumanized and have the finger pointed at them. People know that it could also affect them or their children. Barriers have been torn down. If you know such cases personally, you are no longer so quick to shout in the old hard-core style that you should simply lock them all up.

What specific measures are available to you as sheriff?

Naloxone is a great help. It is a medication that is sprayed into the nose when someone has taken an overdose of opioids or heroin. The effect of the drugs is immediately neutralized. Many police officers carry it on them today. When someone who takes such drugs is released from our prison, they get a box of it. We explain to them how it works and that they shouldn’t take drugs on their own, so that someone can administer the spray to them in an emergency. It has already saved many lives.

Tom Dart

NZZ

Tom Dart, sheriff of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois

Tom Dart was born in Chicago in 1962. He studied history and social sciences and later obtained a doctorate in law. From 1991 to 1993 he held a Democratic seat in the Illinois Senate, after which he became a member of the Illinois House of Representatives where he remained until 2003. He is married and the father of five children.

What are you doing about drugs outside of prisons?

I send people to the neighborhoods where a lot of drugs are consumed, for example in Austin on the Westside of Chicago. I don’t send police officers, but experts in addiction and psychiatry. They distribute naloxone and advise the affected. Sometimes there are people who want to stop, and we try to find them a place where they can receive therapy. This has to be done quickly before they change their mind. But mostly it’s about longer-term support. Addiction often goes hand in hand with isolation. It is important that those affected have someone to talk to.

You are known for your data-based work. Can you give an example?

One new idea was to look at where the most drug-related deaths were happening. And we translated the statistics onto a map. The result was astonishing: gas stations. People go to the toilets there to take drugs. So we concentrated on gas stations.

Let’s talk about the Cook County Jail in Chicago, which you are responsible for. What was the situation there when you started work in 2006?

It was the largest prison in the country, with around 11,000 inmates. And what few people realize is that like most prisons, it is de facto a huge psychiatric facility, but without the appropriate staff. Many prisoners have massive but untreated mental health problems. We now only have about half as many inmates. In the U.S., a distinction is made between «jail» and «prison.» One is in a jail until their trial. If they receive a sentence of less than a year, they stay there, otherwise they are transferred to a prison. However, because our justice system is overstretched, many inmates remain in jail for far too long.

This is another reason why you have initiated many programs that are otherwise reserved for prisons.

Yes, so that the long time spent behind bars isn’t pointless. Prison is a good place to get clean. Today, we have the infrastructure and staff to do this, as well as one of the largest psychiatric clinics in the country. And we continue to look after people after they leave.

Can you give an example of a training program?

One of the particularly creative projects involves dogs. Many criminals have a problem with empathy, and that isn’t surprising. Many have experienced a childhood that makes you wonder how they even they survived. We take dogs from shelters and entrust them to interested inmates. These are usually aggressive animals that would otherwise have been euthanized. The inmates live with the dogs in the cells. They develop mutual trust. It’s unbelievable. We also have students teach civics. Our prison probably has the highest number of voters than any other in the country .

Last summer, bail reform was passed in Illinois. What were the consequences?

Normally in the U.S. you are released on bail pending trial. However, many inmates don’t have money for bail. We had people who were locked up for years just because they were missing $50 or $100. This injustice was eliminated by the reform. Among other things, it led to the end of overcrowding. We were finally able to focus more on improvements, such as training programs for the inmates. Many of them have only minimal education. If they can obtain a qualification or complete vocational training here, this reduces the risk of relapse.

To come back to non-police measures against drug addiction. What are the limits of public acceptance?

There is a consensus that harm reduction is important. But when it comes to the distribution of sterile syringes, the controlled distribution of drugs and rooms for consumption, for example, things get tricky. Residents of the affected neighborhoods often fear that this makes it too easy for users, that it indirectly encourages them to consume and that such facilities attract masses of addicts.

Is the public correct to think that way?

No. But you need to proceed carefully. Otherwise we might end up like Portland.

What has happened there?

In the state of Oregon, the possession of small quantities of hard drugs was declared exempt from punishment three years ago. If someone is caught with an illegal substance, they receive a kind of fine. They must then report to a counseling center, otherwise they will be fined in the event of a repeat offense. The system doesn’t work. In the meantime, the situation has gotten completely out of control, especially in the city of Portland. And above all, it has set the discussion back many years. It is a cautionary tale for all reform ideas.

What exactly was the mistake?

We mustn’t only consider drug users. You also have to take seriously the residents who don’t want people urinating on their houses, defecating in the street, frightening children with their behavior, banging on car windows and windows in a crazy state. Even with a lot of understanding, people won’t tolerate such behavior for months on end. Perhaps temporarily, when they see that there is a plan, but not indefinitely.

Are there too few spots in drug rehabilitation centers?

Yes, and often the programs aren’t good. Decriminalization isn’t enough. Harm reduction and therapy are needed, but also traditional police work. Many burglaries and thefts are committed by addicts, and behind the addiction are often psychological disorders. We must therefore combat both the causes and the crime itself.

What about drugs within the prison walls?

In the past, it was mainly employees who brought the drugs inside. It was a kind of currency that was used to pay for all sorts of things. That has changed. Today it’s all about fentanyl. Extremely small doses are enough for a high. Detection and control are difficult. For a few years now, inmates have been using a trick to get hold of drugs: They have letters, postcards or pages of a book soaked in drugs and sent to them by mail. The inmate then sets the paper on fire and inhales the smoke. One woman recently even smuggled in a diaper soaked in opioids.

What about the image of police officers? The police have been under pressure since the violent death of George Floyd in 2020.

Yes, there’s a lot of mistrust, and we have to work hard on that. In some neighborhoods, people lost all trust in the justice system decades ago. When someone is shot, we often encounter a wall of silence. The victim knows who fired the shot, but says nothing and refuses to cooperate. In these cases, we can do nothing, and then people assume we are sitting idle. Meanwhile, the victim takes the law into their own hands. These feuds, these endless cycles of violence are widespread.

Are we talking about gang violence?

Not only. The large, organized gangs with their territories, which also offer their members a certain degree of protection, hardly exist any more. Everything is fragmented. Anyone can shoot anyone.

What about crime prevention?

With modern technology, there are many possibilities for monitoring. In Chicago, for example, we have cameras with automatic license plate recognition. Thanks to smartphones, electronics in cars and the use of credit cards, we could theoretically track every movement. It would be tempting to use such technologies to track former prisoners. But it is a question of weighing privacy against public benefit. We don’t want to live in a totalitarian state, but we do want to protect our citizens. I love such complex problems; they force me to be creative.

What has actually motivated you to do this difficult job as sheriff for so long, with such energy?

I could have retired a long time ago. I like reading and could look after the children. But my job fascinates me. It requires innovative solutions time and again. Life is short and I want to create something meaningful in this broken world that is getting worse and worse so that my descendants can one day say: «At least he tried.»

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