Community Outreach

The Sheriff’s Office as a whole has a number of Community Engagement and Outreach programs. See the main Sheriff’s Office page for more information on Senior Services, Community Engagement, and more.

• Community policing specialists reach out to residents, focusing on high crime areas and the most vulnerable people. Activities include matching resources with those in need, such as cell phones for seniors or help for the mentally ill; setting up neighborhood watch programs; and juvenile advocacy officers protecting our youth.

  A key feature of the Sheriff’s Office efforts includes protecting our elderly from abuse and neglect via the Sheriff’s Senior Services Program.

Sheriff’s Police – Youth Explorer Program

The Youth Explorer Program and its Junior Sheriff initiative provide a gateway to success in life by providing positive and affirming activities for youth, especially those at risk of becoming victims of violence.

The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act 

Illinois recognizes that newborn infants have been abandoned to the environment or to other circumstances that may be unsafe to the newborn infant. These circumstances have caused injury and death to newborn infants and give rise to potential civil or criminal liability to parents who may be under severe emotional distress. This Act is intended to provide a mechanism for a newborn infant to be relinquished to a safe environment and for the parents of the infant to remain anonymous if they choose and to avoid civil or criminal liability for the act of relinquishing the infant.  

Every hospital, fire station, emergency medical facility, and police station is required to accept a relinquished newborn infant in accordance with this Act.