Lake County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office Organizational and Operational Assessment
In 2022, Lake County, IL contracted with PFM’s Center for Justice & Safety Finance (CJSF) to assess the County Sheriff’s Office’s (LCSO) law enforcement and corrections operations and policies, staffing, and workload. PFM completed its study of LCSO to inform the County’s deliberations on a new LCSO headquarters that would meet the county’s future public safety needs.
PFM analyzed LCSO’s policies and operational data and interviewed more than 90 people representing LCSO leadership and staff, County staff, and external stakeholders to analyze how the Sheriff’s Office’s current organizational structure and its operations support and/or hinder its ability to operate effectively and efficiently. Additionally, PFM developed workload and staffing projections based on LCSO’s detailed data on calls for service and arrests, jail population, and recruitment, retention, and retirement eligibility to understand how demands on the Office may change over five years if no other policies or practices were changed.
In a final report, PFM provided analysis of LCSO’s personnel, budget, organizational structure, operations, and recruitment and retention trends within each of its major divisions of law enforcement and corrections. Based on this analysis and review of relevant state and national standards and best practices, PFM provided 14 actions LCSO could consider to strengthen its personnel management practices, build and support its workforce, allocate its resources to meet goals and objectives, and use its operational data to inform decision-making.