Tom Dart, sheriff of Illinois’ Cook County, told a crowd of hundreds at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn on Friday that he fears future generations will criticize the way police and prosecutors today treat the mentally ill.
“We do not deserve to be looked at favorably,” he said.
In hopes of preventing that, Dart enacted sweeping jail reforms in his county, which includes Chicago, after he was elected sheriff in 2007. He discussed his reforms on the “criminalization of mental illness” as the keynote speaker at a National Alliance on Mental Illness Summit County chapter luncheon.
NAMI works to eliminate the stigma of mental illness by educating the public. It also advocates for increased funding for mental illness research and treatment.
Dart’s reforms were sparked by personal experience; he was a prosecutor and state representative before becoming a sheriff.
“I can honestly tell you there isn’t anybody on the planet that I know who would suggest the criminal justice system is working the way it should be right now,” he said. “The harsh reality is that it’s not fair.”
A large portion of the people kept at the Cook County Jail had a mental illness, Dart said, and their illnesses were a primary factor in their criminal activity. His goal as sheriff was to get people treatment for mental illness rather than put them in handcuffs.
He said incarcerating the mentally ill is part of the reason the United States imprisons more people per capita than any other country in the world. There are more mentally ill people in prisons and jails than in hospitals, he said.
Dart said it’s up to today’s mental-health advocates to make changes.
“I don’t see that white horse that’s going to come in and save us,” Dart said, “so we have to do it ourselves.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.