Lisa Donovan
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — The union representing roughly 200 Cook County juvenile jail counselors says staffers are “offended” that the facility’s top administrator referred to some of the workers as “dirt bags.”
Earl Dunlap, who heads the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, made the comments after detention center bosses received what he described as “credible threats” of violence as layoffs loom at the West Side facility.
“We are pretty offended that Dunlap would refer to our members like that,” said Erin Calandriello, a spokeswoman for Teamsters Local 700. She said the union had not been notified of the threats. “We don’t have substantiated evidence that shows its true.”
But Dunlap wrote to Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, warning him that officers may be summoned if threats made by some staffers escalate to violence.
A change in state law requiring staffers to have a college degree is forcing about 200 staffers to reapply for jobs. The degree requirement, coupled with court orders, has changed the very culture of the center — once a dumping ground for patronage workers — upsetting a few troublemakers, Dunlap told the Sun-Times Tuesday.
“You have to understand, we have some people [without degrees] who are very, very good, but some of them are bottom feeders and dirt bags — they shouldn’t be looking after dogs in a shelter, much less kids in a detention center,” Dunlap said.
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