Curran Sends Undersheriff to Harvard for 1 week; Spends $16,000

Lake County pays the highest property taxes in the state of Illinois with taxes increasing every year. Earlier this year, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office sent Undersheriff Hare to Harvard for a one-week course that cost taxpayers $16,000. That’s multiple property tax bills. That’s college tuition. That’s updated equipment for our deputies who are on the front lines everyday responding to 911 calls. That’s training for our highway patrol.
Why send one of the most senior ranked staff to Harvard at taxpayers’ expense when that money could have been put to better use?

At a Daily Herald endorsement interview, I stated that school safety would be one of my top priorities. I stated that the current administration is not doing enough on school safety, and my plan is to have each school under the jurisdiction of the sheriff’s department be checked at least twice a day. Mark Curran stated that he could not do that with current resources. If the Sheriff’s Department does not have enough resources to adequately focus on school safety, this money would have helped.
While ongoing training is needed for road deputies, detectives, and supervisors, I question the cost of a $16,000 one-week Harvard course for the second in command of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. We could find better uses for $16,000.