LITTLE VILLAGE — With programs aiming to reduce its jail population proving successful, Cook County will tear down four jail buildings that are outdated and no longer needed, county officials announced Wednesday.
The county will demolish two jail divisions by next year, officials said. A third jail division, which encompasses two buildings, will begin demolition in 2018. All told, over 600,000 square feet of jail space will be demolished, the county said.
Demolishing the divisions will reduce the detainee capacity of Cook County Jail, 2700 S. California Ave., from 11,300 to 9,600, a 15 percent decrease, the county said. Parts of the jail set to be demolished haven't held inmates in "the longest time," Sheriff Tom Dart said.
That's because the jail population is down more than 20 percent since 2010 and is at the lowest levels since 1991, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. The demolition was made possible due to efforts undertaken by the county to reduce the jail's population of non-violent, pre-trial detainees, she said.
"This is a huge step toward a criminal justice system that is more efficient and responsive to individual circumstances and less costly to taxpayers," Preckwinkle said at a press conference inside the jail. "Bringing down the jail population is allowing us to bring down buildings and bring down costs."
Dart and the County Board have been working to rid the jail of non-violent offenders who in many cases are too poor to pay their bail, officials said. With the help of the judiciary, more people are being given electronic monitoring release or are seeing reduced bails.
"Jail is for violent people," Dart said. "For the non-violent people, for the mentally ill, what are we doing as a society holding them here?"
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Because jail populations can fluctuate, Dart said there is a "backup plan" should extra space be needed. But he said the programs to keep certain populations out of lock-up will only get better and said the county's long-term ability to reduce the population is strong.
Demolishing the four buildings will save the county $3 million in building operating costs and will allow the county to avoid $188 million in capital improvements the facilities needed. Dart said the buildings targeted for demolition were among the oldest in the facility and the most in-need of upgrades.
It will also likely allow for savings on corrections officers needed to staff the facility, though Dart said layoffs were not planned.
Not only will the reduction in jail size save money, it will make for a more fair justice system and a more productive society, where non-violent, "low risk" offenders are able to be productive members of society while awaiting trial, he said.
"We know pretrial detention destroys lives," Dart said. "[Now] they're going on with their daily lives... and they aren't a danger to the community."
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