Sheriff Tom Dart and the Cook County Jail Cross-Watching Crisis

Cross-watching is not just an unsafe staffing practice. It is the clearest window into a deeper system of corruption, mismanagement, and exploitation inside Cook County Jail. Under the leadership of Sheriff Tom Dart and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, officers are ordered to cover multiple housing units at once, doing two or three jobs for the price of one, while detainees are left vulnerable to unchecked violence, delayed medical care, and preventable tragedy.

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Why Cook County Jail Cross-Watching Endangers Officers

In 2022, the Illinois Labor Relations Board (Janda & Bollinger v. County of Cook and Sheriff of Cook County, Case No. L-CA-21-033) ruled that refusing cross-watching is protected concerted activity under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. Any discipline for such refusals is unlawful retaliation.

The precedent is clear. Yet, inside the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, officers are still intimidated into silence - write-ups, threats of discipline, and retaliation continue. Why? Because the administration of Sheriff Tom Dart counts on officers not knowing their rights and those who should be defending us, have abandoned the fight.

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Sheriff Tom Dart and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office Under Scrutiny

On September 20^th, I disseminated an email outlining the dangers of Cross-watching to which county leadership, commissioners, and oversight bodies, Teamsters Local 700 issued a public response. Their message was not to stand behind their members’ right to refuse unsafe work. It was not to reaffirm the ILRB ruling. It was to distance themselves from exposure of the truth in my words addressing unsafe working conditions - and to remind everyone that “[I] hold no position with Teamsters Local 700”.

Why would a union refuse to stand behind its own members in the fight against a practice that has been condemned by the DOJ, restricted by federal court orders, and outlawed as retaliation under state labor law? Why would a union - funded by millions in officer dues - urge silence instead of action? Why would they discourage officers from even discussing the truth?

Unless, of course, the union itself has been compromised - unless Cook County Sheriff’s Office of Sheriff Tom Dart, benefits from that silence.

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A Pattern of Corruption at Cook County Jail

Cross-watching is not an isolated abuse. It is reflective of the same structural corruption that defines operations at Cook County Jail and within the Cook County Sheriff’s Office led by Sheriff Tom Dart. This can be seen in:

• Retaliation through write-ups - officers who speak out are buried in false disciplinary actions, sending a clear message, “stay silent or be destroyed”.
• Exploitation of labor - officers are forced to work beyond their job descriptions without pay, while the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Sherriff Tom Dart himself insists the “short staffing crisis” is the officers’ fault.
• Union abandonment - Teamsters Local 700 collects more than $8 million in annual dues, yet officers see almost none of that money invested in their defense. Instead, officers are told to be quiet and trust “the process.”

The process, as it stands, is corruption - and it thrives inside Cook County Jail under Sheriff Tom Dart.

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Why Cook County Officers Must Refuse Cross-Watching

No one is coming to save us. Not the administration. Not the union. Not the county board. The only way cross-watching ends is if we end it ourselves.

The law is already on our side. Janda & Bollinger makes it clear: refusing to cross-watch is legally protected. If you refuse and they retaliate, they are breaking the law – not you.

Every time we accept a cross-watching assignment, we accept multiple jobs for one paycheck. We put ourselves at risk of being disciplined or even fired when something inevitably goes wrong. If the county wants us to do two or three jobs at once, then they must pay us accordingly. They must compensate us at the highest levels - not exploit us as disposable labor.

I know retaliation is real. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office is already trying to retaliate against me for exposing this corruption. But I refuse to be bullied into silence. Together, neither Sheriff Tom Dart, nor anyone else, will ever be able to bully us again.

We cannot remain silent anymore. Silence is complicity. The longer we accept cross-watching, the longer they normalize unsafe, exploitative, and unlawful practices. The moment we stand together, they lose their power.

One officer. One post. One paycheck. Anything less is corruption.

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Cook County Jail Retaliation Against Officers Who Speak Out

Who benefits from cross-watching at Cook County Jail? It is not the officers, whose lives are put at risk. It is not the detainees, whose safety is compromised. The only beneficiaries are those in power who save money by understaffing, overworking, and silencing the very people they are sworn to protect.

So, ask yourself: “Does Teamsters Local 700 truly represent us when they refuse to fight one of the most dangerous and unlawful practices in our profession? Or have they become part of the very system that keeps Sheriff Tom Dart’s Cook County Sheriff’s Office unchallenged?”

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One Officer, One Post, One Paycheck: Ending Cross-Watching at Cook County Jail

For years, this corruption inside the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has gone unopposed. But with the Cook County Corrections Coalition, that silence is broken. Officers now have a voice. We now have a shield. We have the law on our side.

One officer. One post. One paycheck. That is not just a demand - it is the baseline of dignity and safety. Cross-watching violates it. Corruption sustains it. We will end it.

1. ‍_{Janda & Bollinger v. County of Cook and Sheriff of Cook County, Case No. L-CA-21-033 (Illinois Labor Relations Board, Jan. 20, 2022).}
2. _{5 ILCS 315/6(a) – Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. [Statutory Law]}
3. _{820 ILCS 219/20 – Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Act. [Statutory Law]}
4. _{820 ILCS 219/110 – Retaliation provision, Illinois OSHA. [Statutory Law]}
5. _{740 ILCS 174/15 – Illinois Whistleblower Act, disclosure protection. [Statutory Law]}‍
6. ‍_{740 ILCS 174/20 – Illinois Whistleblower Act, refusal protection. [Statutory Law]}
7. _{CCDOC–Teamsters Local 700 CBA, Article XIII, §13.2 (2020–2024). [CBA Provision]}