Illinois law declares a person to be an adult upon reaching a 17th birthday, but to DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba a 17-year-old still is someone’s son or daughter.
Starting this month, his Sheriff’s Department will call parents of such youths who are charged with a crime that brings them to the County Jail or are in the company of someone arrested on a drug or alcohol charge.
“As a parent I would want to be notified, so I believe that others parents would too,” Zaruba said.
When a juvenile age 16 or younger is arrested in DuPage, he or she is taken to the county youth home, where state law mandates contact be made with the youth’s parents or guardian.
“But at 17 you are an adult and taken to the County Jail for booking,” Zaruba said. “Often these kids never call their parents, but a friend or someone else bails them out and their parents never know.”
He estimates that about 140 17-year-olds are processed in the jail each year, adding that “the indications have that number rising.”
“The law may say that a 17-year-old is an adult, but as a parent I don’t think we believe our 17-year-olds are adults,” said John Smith, the county’s chief of corrections.
Also starting this month, parents will be notified if their child, age 17 or younger, is in the company of someone arrested in connection with drugs or alcohol.
Zaruba said that if someone is arrested in a group of teenagers for drugs, the parents of each youth will be called “just to say that the incident happened, not necessarily that their child did anything illegal.”
If a motorist is charged with drunken driving and a youth age 17 or younger is a passenger in the vehicle, the youth’s parents will be called, “just to let them know,” the sheriff said.
Zaruba said that if the arresting officer doesn’t call, a police supervisor will try to make contact with the parents. If that isn’t accomplished, a letter will be sent to the parents.
Zaruba said the plan does have some limits.
“If there is a party with 300 kids and two get arrested for alcohol, we don’t plan on calling all 300 parents,” he said.
“We consider these types of incidents to be `at-risk’ situations, and I believe that most parents want to know this. Most parents will take action with their child to prevent them from taking the wrong road,” he said.
“Some of our patrol officers have done this in the past. But now it is a department policy,” Zaruba said.
“I’m sure not all of the kids will like this new policy, but it benefits both them and their parents,” he added.
New kids on the block: Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas is to swear in 64 new lawyers Thursday in Elgin.
The lawyers are among 611 being sworn throughout the state’s five Supreme and Appellate Court Districts. They will bring the total of licensed lawyers in Illinois to more than 76,000, according to Supreme Court figures.
Elmhurst fire boss: Elmhurst has elevated Deputy Fire Chief Mike Kopp to chief.
Chief Robert Gallas, 55, submitted his resignation in March. Kopp will take over when Gallas retires May 31.
City Manager Thomas Borchert interviewed seven members inside the department for the job before naming Kopp. The selection was approved Monday by the City Council.
Kopp has been with the Fire Department since January 1984, starting out as a firefighter and emergency medical technician. He was promoted to deputy chief in 1998.
