State Police in McHenry County

I got a little chuckle out of a story by Chuck Keeshan about the increase in McHenry County traffic deaths.

Well, not about the deaths, but about the State Police realizing that it might be able to do something about it.

In 1999, during Governor George Ryan’s first year in office, I was top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee that handled the budgets for public safety and transporation.

I had noticed that lots of Downstate areas used the State Police as local police and sheriff’s deputies.

But, rarely did one see a State Police car in McHenry County.

It’s a pattern that is seen with many state services.

Take mental health.

Because we have a mental health tax, we get less than our share of mental health subsidizes from the state.

Take education.

Because we have high property values, we get relatively little state aid to education.

Take roads.

Downstate there are roads with fewer cars per day than go past our home in Lakewood that are four-lane expressways, yet Route 31 between Crystal Lake and McHenry is a crumbling two lanes.

The new State Police Director said he would look into it.

The next year, after I had lost the primary election, when he came back he told me and the committee that he had looked into the service levels in McHenry County and concluded that they were not high enough.

Here’s what Keeshan reports is going to happen:

State police now have eight troopers enforcing traffic laws on McHenry County highways, compared to sporadic patrols by a visiting trooper in years past. The agency also is stepping up seat belt and road safety checks, air patrols and efforts to arrest drunken drivers.


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