Antiquated technology dogs State’s Attorney’s office  

By Jean Lachowicz 

Stacked boxes of handwritten index cards and folders filled with carbon copies might evoke the quaint image of an efficient government office in the 1950s. When cards and copies appear in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office in 2008, however, they tell a story of political infighting, budget turmoil, and a compromised ability to deliver justice.

            Cook County’s State’s Attorney’s office is second only to Los Angeles's as the largest county-wide prosecutorial agency in the nation, yet much of the Cook County office's technology is at least 20 years out of date, a Gazette investigation has learned.

            According to sources, who requested anonymity and currently are employed by the State’s Attorney’s office, the shortage of computers and telephones is so severe that staff members routinely bring their personal laptops and cell phones from home, e-mail is routinely printed off as hard copies and left on the recipient’s desk or dictated to recipients over the phone, and assistant state’s attorneys often work at tables because there are not enough desks.

            The State's Attorney's official mission is to "secure justice, promote the public health and safety, and serve as the legal representatives of the nation's second largest county. The State's Attorney pursues these goals by enforcing criminal laws, promoting civil protection for the disabled, the elderly, consumers and the environment, and acting as general counsel for a county government that is larger than 44 state governments. Working in the nation's largest unified court system, over 900 prosecutors pursue these objectives.”

            Tom Allen, 38th Ward Alderman and former Democratic primary candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, said the organization’s technology is “old and stale, and it pretty much reflects the mentality and leadership in that office….  It doesn't surprise me. They are living in the stone ages, and that just goes to show you that they don't have a plan. They don't have any recognition of that problem.

            “For a law office with that many people to be still playing with index cards is, well, I don't think you should find anything like that in Cook County or in the State of Illinois. So the answer is just change it, do something. I mean, they obviously don't think it is important to keep track of what is going on, and that's maybe why we have cases that are festering for eight years—seven and eight years—you know, guys are in Cook County Jail waiting for trial for eight years because [the State's Attorney's office] can't get their act together and try the case,” Allen said.

 

Victim assistance improved

            In an effort at improvement, in May 2006 the State’s Attorney’s office unveiled an online component to upgrade its telephone-access capabilities for public inquiries, which had been operating since October 2000. The computerized system notifies crime victims, witnesses, and other concerned parties of a defendant’s release from the Cook County Jail and provides the status of court dates.

This Victim Notification System is part of the nationwide VINELink system (www.vinelink.com), and, according to Karen McKenna, deputy director of victim witness assistance programs for the State’s Attorney’s office, work is underway to join Cook County’s VINELink with the rest of the Illinois system in the near future. This, she explained, would be particularly important for people who live in cities on a border between two or even three counties.

Cook County’s VINELink was created through a partnership among the Cook County State’s Attorney, Cook County Sheriff, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk, Chief Judge, Cook County Bureau of Information and Technology, and the Chicago Police Department. To date, the system has handled 629,751 phone calls, sent 55,401 notifications, and logged 141,425 online inquiries. The most frequently requested information now is available in English, Spanish, and Polish.

“We have 16 locations for Victim Services around Cook County, and it used to take three to five days to provide this type of information," McKenna said. "Now it is done the same day. Cook County has 11,000 inmates that need to be monitored, and the inmates might be moved two or three times per day. Coordinating this information is a massive undertaking, especially in a time of severe budget cuts,” she added.

While the Victim Notification System addresses the public’s need for accessible information about court dates, sentencing, and custody cases, much of the data at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office remains unautomated.

Democratic State's Attorney nominee and Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said, “For at least two years, the State’s Attorney’s office has been working with officials from the county’s management information systems office to implement a sorely needed case management system. This system, which is scheduled to go online this coming fall [2008], will bring the State’s Attorney’s office light years ahead of where it stands right now when it comes to utilizing computers and technology to track cases. It is a long overdue improvement that will drastically improve office operations and efficiencies.”

While defending budget expenditures to the Cook County Board, current State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine disclosed in January 2005 that, “On the plus side, I want to thank the County administration and the County Board for including a $3 million allocation for the creation of a computer system in our criminal bureau. This is the first time that we have had this support. In fact, a Crain's article a few months ago [July 2004] identified our office as being at the bottom of county agencies in computer capability. This was not because we saw this as a low priority. We have been seeking for several years to upgrade our computer systems but without success. I am delighted that we are at last moving forward on this important part of our justice process.”

Devine added, “I should note that this is simply not an advance in some esoteric capability, but one which will allow us to be sure that all documents from the police department have been retrieved and forwarded to defendants as part of discovery. There are countless other pluses of having a decent computer operation in a prosecutor's office but that is certainly one of the main ones.”

 

'Horse and buggy stuff'

Howard Brookins, 21st Ward Alderman and former Democratic primary candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, said, “They still do things the old-fashioned way at the State's Attorney's office: pen and paper, 3 x 5 index cards to write notes and dates down, so on and so forth. That's horse and buggy stuff. We should have long since gone to computer modernization to keep docket information together, but also so that we can cross-reference various other types of information such as police reports, etc.

“The State’s Attorneys don’t have many opportunities to see other courts, like the federal courts, where they are nearly paperless. It is so much more efficient, and it is more ‘green’ too. During a time of budget crunching, like the situation we are in now, the State’s Attorney’s office needs to make every effort to be more efficient and more effective. What we have now is really bad,” said Brookins.

Devine has served as State’s Attorney since 1996. He decided not to seek a fourth term, and the upcoming November elections will determine his successor.

            Alvarez, who currently oversees daily operations of more than 900 assistant state’s attorneys, hopes to succeed Devine. She has worked for the State’s Attorney’s office for 21 years prosecuting cases involving gangs, violent street crime, domestic violence, sex predators, and public corruption.

            According  to Alvarez,“Like many offices throughout county government, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office has faced major challenges in trying to upgrade and implement new technologies in the office. This struggle has not been due to a lack of effort or initiative by the administration in the State’s Attorney’s office, but rather a direct result of the overall financial problems that exist across the board in Cook County government.”

 

'Index cards will be gone'

            “If I am elected Cook County State’s Attorney, working to bring upgrades in technology at all levels of the office will be a top priority, and I will work hard to seek county funding as well as potential grant or even private funding to achieve this goal,” Alvarez said, adding that the “index cards will be gone by the wayside. 

            “That being said, new technology does not always equal new savings,” said Alvarez. “For instance, medical innovations at Cook County Hospital may provide better patient and emergency care that can save lives but don’t necessarily promise to be cheaper. I think that when public officials, specifically Cook County Commissioners, give out contracts to vendors promising savings through new technologies, they should be held accountable for results. In the past several years, Cook County Commissioners have promised tens of millions of dollars in savings through the implementation of new technologies."

            Alvarez also took the opportunity to do a little politicking against her Republican opponent for State's Attorney, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica. “In a statement issued November 4, 2004, Commissioner Tony Peraica stated that by applying new technology beginning in 2005, Cook County could save at least $35 million annually with the full savings realized within two years. I am not running for the Cook County Board, but as a taxpayer I think it is fair to demand that if a politician justifies a new expenditure by promising savings, then the voters have a right to know if savings materialized, and if they did not, why not?"   

            Peraica, who has served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners since 2003, said that, “in many cases, high county spending on new technology has not been matched by lower labor expenses in several county offices.  As is the case with most instances of the county budget, tax dollars are not being spent wisely—and it’s not the amount of money being spent, it’s how it’s being spent. 

            “One of my first overall priorities as State’s Attorney will be to audit the books to find instances of waste and duplicative jobs or positions within the State’s Attorney’s office. If there is a case, and I know there are many, where new technology has replaced the need for a worker, then we will take action to eliminate that position. The taxpayers deserve nothing less.”

            According to Peraica, his years on the County Board have given him insight into the political reasons behind technological issues at the State’s Attorney’s office.

            “Any time a Cook County politician pushes aggressively for a contract to be awarded (technology included), it usually means they are trying to award a politically connected vendor at the county’s expense," Peraica said. "And, as long as these same politicians fund their campaign accounts by promising contracts to these vendors, and county jobs to cronies, it will be increasingly difficult to get the county to lower any labor expenses.

            “In the budget passed last year, for instance, [Cook County Board Chair] Todd Stroger claimed he was making needed cuts to labor costs.  In reality, however, he was cutting non-connected frontline workers while protecting his patronage army. In his new budget proposal, he calls for the hiring of more than 1,000 new workers.

            “To assure the savings promised, we need to have timely audits of the books to identify the waste, fraud, abuse, and duplication within county government. If there is duplication of effort and expense, as in the case of new technology, then we need to eliminate that duplication and realize the promised cost savings,” Peraica said.