Brad Sandefur: Cook County Sheriff Candidate

COOK COUNTY, IL — Ahead of Illinois' Nov. 8 general election, Patch distributed questionnaires to candidates running in contested races, including the three candidates seeking a four-year term as Cook County Sheriff.

On the Democratic side, incumbent Thomas J. Dart (in office since 2006) is seeking reelection. Brad Sanderfur is running as a Libertarian, while Lupe Aguirre has the nod for the Republicans.

Name: Brad Sandefur

Campaign Website: http://www.sandefurforsheriff.org or http://www.BradforSheriff.org.

Town of Residence: Hanover Park

Party Affiliation: Libertarian

Family: I have three daughters — Aris is 37, single, homeless, and autistic; Tara is 34, married, employed, and learning disabled; Kelsey is 27, single, a professional opera and classical singer, and also works for an event company I have one son, Dillon (15) suffering from cerebral palsy and autism. Dillon is also my grandson. My wife and I have had custody of him since birth. This combination of children gives me a particular concern for those facing mental health challenges.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? None

Education: Master of Science in Criminal Justice with a Forensic Psychology cognate. Doctoral candidate in Criminal Justice Leadership.

Occupation: Over forty years in law enforcement, 32 with the Cook County Sheriff's department.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None

Why are you seeking this office?

There are several reasons. The Sheriff's department has been, and remains, Cook County Democratic politicians' favorite dumping ground, be it for punishment or reward. I intend to get the politics and secrets out of hiring and promotions for merited and exempt positions. I will return the department to serving and protecting the law-abiding American citizens of Cook County and those that visit our county, placing their safety above the freedom of criminals who continue to prey on them when released while awaiting trial while still working to create productive, law-abiding, contributing citizens out those that have made mistakes.

I want to restore staff pride, morale, and dedication by bringing in people from all political parties, forming a coalition, and destroying the current autocracy that is getting our residents murdered, robbed, car-jacked, and worse. I want the public to know their sheriff's department belongs to them, not the sheriff. I want to stop handcuffing our law enforcement officers so they can protect without fear of being unreasonably accused of wrongdoing while holding the few actual deviant or criminal law enforcement officers fully accountable. The fear of being wrongly accused of misconduct or brutality is one main factor causing staffing shortages.

The single most pressing issue facing Cook County is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

There are so many high-priority issues facing the Sheriff's department. Though my pick may not be that of others, I would choose staffing as the biggest problem, though that is not a simple 'we need to hire more staff' solution. The term 'staffing problems' includes better vetting potential hires, training, change, accountability, and transparency without compromising investigations, risking staff safety, or creating unsubstantiated rumors about a previous event or creating a new one. Without staffing, we cannot improve programs for those arrested, we cannot properly secure the jail, the courts, or the streets, nor can we replace corrupt, self-serving management or the inherent politically influenced decisions that dictate every aspect of the department.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The most glaring difference is that I work for the department I seek to lead and have worked for this department for 32 years, having entered from the bottom, not the top. I have been a supervisor, shift commander, and academy instructor for this department since 1994. I hold a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice and am currently a Doctoral candidate. I have also served as a United States Marine and trained with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the FBI, and the Secret Service.

The incumbent is a lifelong politician, not a law enforcement officer. The Republican challenger is a lifelong Democrat who suddenly switched affiliations for this election, so he is already lying to the voters. The incumbent is instituting or supporting policies that favor freedom for alleged criminals, increasing victims and public fear, keeping our streets unsafe, making them even less safe, and denying any responsibility for the resultant increase in crime, both violent and nonviolent. The Republican challenger recently stated at a press conference that his only solution to the crime problem is to hire more police. I have a multi-faceted plan that includes citizen and NGO involvement.

If you are a challenger, what would you do differently than the incumbent?

I would ensure that the public understands that all Cook County deputy sheriffs have powers of arrest regardless of assignment. I would follow the federal LEOSA Act of 2004, which has been ignored by the previous sheriff, the current sheriff, and the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. I would remove or revamp the Sheriff's Merit Board to take the politics out of deciding who is assigned to the board. That power would rest with the Sheriff and a civilian board that would include average, nonpolitically connected citizens.

I would lead the department to become more of a Cook County Public Safety department. This means all deputies would be crossed-trained for each of the three major positions for sworn personnel, allowing me to rotate personnel or send one group to a different section if one was overstaffed while another had a shortage. For example, this will enable me to put more patrol on the street when available, providing immediate backup to patrol officers without increasing departmental costs.

I will work to repeal or drastically amend the dangerous and poorly thought-out SAFE-T Act. I will work to stop incarcerating as many mentally ill alleged offenders as possible and get them into a mental health facility where they can start getting treatment immediately rather than simply being pacified while awaiting trial. I will work with religious organizations, NGOs, and other private or nonprofit organizations to create a diversion, restitution/restorative, literacy, job training, job interviewing, and social skills programs both inside the jail and in neighborhoods to stop people from coming into the penal system before their lives get tainted with an arrest record. Rather than locking up youth and throwing away the key, I would work for laws and policies that allow for a thorough investigation of the environment and culture that may be negatively influencing the youth and work to improve those conditions, including working with parents to give them a hand up, not a handout.

I will also work with these groups to create comprehensive after-school programs that are also available on the weekends. These programs will include counselors, tutors, literacy programs, job skills training, job interview training, and social skills training. The goal is to prevent the youth from being influenced or intimidated by bullies, street gangs, or other criminal elements to prevent them from ever needing to be involved in the criminal justice system for criminal or delinquent activity and to encourage the youth to remain in school.
For both youth and adults, if a diversion program is followed and the graduates stay out of trouble for twenty-four months, their criminal records would be fully expunged for employment purposes. This is a general overview of the plan and is not fully detailed.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:*

Put law-abiding citizen safety and security ahead of criminals while working to reduce criminality, crime, and recidivism. Get the political influences out of department hiring, promotion, and policymaking, restoring sworn staff morale and their confidence in department leadership. Unhandcuff law enforcement so they can do their job and working to restore relationships and legitimacy with the public.

How would you address the increase in carjackings in Cook County, and what is your take on how the spike in carjackings has been handled so far?

The previously mentioned plans would help address carjacking. Requiring manufacturers to install nonremovable trackers and having more staff available to surround and cut off escape routes rather than high-speed chases through crowded areas but still allowing chases when other options are not tenable.

If you gain this position, what accomplishment would define your term in office as a success?

An increase in law enforcement applicants, the restoration of sworn staff morale and appreciation, a reduction in unwarranted discipline or charges against sworn staff while ensuring the proper department discipline or prosecution of law enforcement officers who should receive such consequences, increasing the public's understanding of what law enforcement officers can and cannot do while engaged in law enforcement activities the reversing of laws that are handcuffing our law enforcement officers, a reduction in criminal organization activities in Cook County, including, but not limited to street gangs, motorcycle gangs, tagging gangs, and reducing gang intimidation of our youth and restoring parents' confidence in allowing their children to play in their yards again.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have lived on all sides of life. I was raised in a group home and foster homes from about age two until I was nine. I have been homeless and hungry. I have been bullied and defended others against bullies. I have been hungry and done what I needed to do to eat. I have been in jail. I fought through all of this and became a successful, contributing citizen. If adults had not been understanding and helpful at different times, I could have just as easily been one of the ones wasting my life in a jail cell. I have been the victim of political decisions and fought such chicanery as a union steward. I understand the necessity of tough choices and that unfortunate circumstances or poor youthful decision-making should not negatively influence the remainder of one's life where circumstances will allow an alternate path to be available. My positions are based on what I have seen, experienced, and been informed about by other law enforcement personnel, mostly sworn sheriff's office staff.