Crime & Safety

Cook County Jail Put on Lockdown When Over 200 Workers Call in Sick

Cook County Jail detainee activities canceled when more than 200 workers did not report to work on Mother's Day, sheriff's office says.

COOK COUNTY, IL -- Cook County Jail was placed on lockdown when more than 200 officers did not report to work on Sunday, which also happened to be Mother’s Day. This is the second consecutive year when the jail had to be put on lockdown because of the large number of deputies not reporting to work on a holiday, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said in a written statement.

The sheriff’s office said 32 percent of those assigned to work the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift at Cook County Jail did not report to work. Eighty-six officers called in sick and another 120 invoked the Family Medical Leave Act.

As of 3 p.m. Sunday at the start of the second shift, about 25 percent of staff for the second shift of the day also had called in sick, the Chicago Tribune reported.

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The jail was placed on lockdown Sunday with only essential movement allowed, because there weren’t enough officers on duty to ensure the safety of inmates and fellow officers. All jail inmate activities were canceled, except for medical and court appointments. Inmates were still allowed visitors.

The “extraordinary” number of call offs puts additional pressure on the men and women of the sheriff's office who come to work as scheduled,” the sheriff’s office said in a written statement. The fact that Sunday was Mother’s Day and beautiful weather may have contributed to excuses for not coming to work, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Cara Smith.

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“We continue to find ways to curb the absenteeism, but we have very few tools in the toolbox,'' Smith told the Tribune.

On Mother’s Day 2016, about 20 percent of officers did not report to work at Cook County Jail.


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