New Initiative To Address 'Surge' In Violence In Lake Co.

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The Lake County Board this past week gave the state's attorney's office the green light to move forward with creating a violent crimes unit. County officials say the new unit is meant to help give the Lake County State's Attorney's Office the resources to deal with an increase in violent crimes in the county since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The approval by the board means Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart will be able to devote two additional prosecutors and a victim-witness counselor to the new unit. The victim-witness coordinator will be assigned immediately to cases involving homicide or great bodily harm, Rinehart said.

"Victims may need help immediately even when a police investigation is still open. I am proud of this early support for victims and survivors," he said.

In addition, experienced prosecutors in the newly created unit will begin to work immediately collaborate with police agencies in order to provide "enhanced legal support during investigations," Rinehart said.

Rinehart said that the unit would follow a vertical prosecution approach, in which a single prosecutor follows a case from “night one” to conviction.

“This model has been used in our sex crimes unit for years, but I have been expanding it to violent crimes. This allows the same attorneys and counselors to be working with survivors immediately," he said.

Rinehart had previously requested the expansion of the unit during budget hearings in October. But after normal operating budgets were kept flat for fiscal year 2022, Rinehart worked with Lake County Administrative staff and the Finance & Administration Committee to seek funding from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) apportionment.

“State’s Attorney Rinehart has been aggressively seeking this funding for months. He presented the board with statistics that showed a sustained increase in violence over the last several years, and we felt his office needed additional resources to deal with this recent surge within the pandemic," said Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart. "We have asked him to look for other efficiencies in the office, but we also felt that emergency ARPA funding could be used now for a vital community need.”

The funding is expected to be available by January 2022, and Rinehart hopes to have the unit up and running as soon as possible, according to a news release.