05/19/2020
Bravo!!!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2966989926723965&id=764352883654358
As Sheriff, I feel that my own 1st amendment constitutional right to free speech has been completely trampled on by a governor who has threatened my Officesā reimbursement and grant funds as a tool to force me not to speak. I just canāt do this any more. I stand with our citizens and businesses of DuPage County who have offered no trouble or no resistance to any rule we put upon them, no matter how strange. In fact they have communally helped to support us during this pandemic with resources and physical help. I will not have a polarized and threatened society when we are currently experiencing nothing but great treatment from our citizens and businesses. We are not experiencing the same problems as Cook County. We can re-open responsibly and with proper care. Weāre not just going to open up with no precautions but science suggests a potentially different route. We did all say from the beginning that we would follow science to the end correct? We have now created āsuper hot spotsā for COVID-19 within our most coveted resources. Our primary food sources. (Costco,Jewel, etc). As our local restaurants continue to dissolve into oblivion, the reliance on food will cause more people to flock to the few that are open, causing very high potential virus transfer, food shortages and a potential collapse of our economy. If other businesses were opened responsibly, wouldnāt that take away from congregation at the only few places left open? This is what purely scientific minds have asked me. Iām just having difficulty with what looks like politics pitting everyone against each other and then wanting the police to arrest everyone who disagrees. We are not stormtroopers. We are peacekeepers. All these years, you have told us that you want law enforcement that thinks before arresting, doesnāt violate your rights and treats their citizens with decency. Now you have that and are asking us to regress into what you didnāt want and didnāt deserve. Please let us be the law enforcement you always asked us to be. Non oppressive. We are dealing with a serious rise in crime, new challenges in our correctional facility and a massive upsurge in our courthouse when everything opens back up. We will rise to the challenge. This is not the time to introduce fear into our society by threatening class A misdemeanors,but instead itās a time to assist our citizens and businesses to get back on their feet. I feel DuPage County is ready to re-open responsibly before everything is gone and I will not victimize lawful residents of DuPage County trying to put food on their childrenās table. Iām so proud of our DuPage citizens who have done everything right from the beginning. All I can say is thank you.
