Palatine Police Chief John Koziol and his suburban counterparts aren't happy about Cook County's recent announcement it will close its five suburban courthouses on weekends.
After running some numbers, Koziol calculated the county's cost-cutting measure will result in the village of Palatine making an additional $25,000 in overtime payments.
"We understand everyone's got financial issues, but we don't understand why it has to be all or nothing," Koziol said.
The county estimates consolidating weekend hearings to the criminal courts building at 26th and California in Chicago will save $1.9 million in 2012.
Since the police department has minimal weekend staffing, Koziol is hoping some sort of compromise can be reached so that his officers don't have to make the 70-mile round trip to take arrested people to the courts building.
He also pointed out that his $25,000 estimate isn't included in the village's 2012 budget and doesn't reflect costs associated with additional gasoline and wear and tear on squad cars.
Koziol said the suburban police chiefs are hoping to sit down with county officials.
Kimberly Pohl, [email protected]
Copyright 2012 Paddock Publications, Inc.
