COOK COUNTY, IL – Cook County Sheriff’s Child Rescue Unit has been named the 2023 National Sheriffs’ Association Crime Victim Services Award recipient in recognition of outstanding achievement by a Sheriff’s Office in support of crime victims, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
Since 2005, the annual NSA Crime Victim Services Award recognizes that victims of crime have unique needs and that appropriate assistance to victims should be provided by law enforcement as early as possible in the response process. The formal presentation of the award will be during the 2023 National Sheriffs’ Association Conference’s Awards Luncheon in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
“There is no more important service than helping the most vulnerable” said NSA Executive Director Jonathan Thompson. “Kudos to Sheriff Dart and his team, who are so deserving of this honor.”
Sheriff Dart created the unit in late 2012 to look for vulnerable children who went missing from the State’s foster care system. The Child Rescue Unit was the only team of its kind in Illinois dedicated to looking for these children who are considered high-risk for being preyed upon. Ince the unit’s inception, more than 1,100 children have been rescued throughout Cook County.
“Members of the Sheriff’s Child Rescue Unit have continually shown commitment, determination, and compassion we owe these children as a society,” Sheriff Dart said. “As a result of their investigations, they have undoubtedly saved the lives of countless children who would have otherwise been left behind.”
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