Sheriff's Work Alternative Program - S.W.A.P.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (S.W.A.P.) has been one of the most successful, fastest-growing and beneficial programs in the history of the criminal justice system in Cook County. It puts drunk drivers and other low-level offenders to work on the streets of Cook County, doing everything from assisting the Medical Examiner in handling the bodies of victims during the 1994 heat crisis to sandbagging during the 1991 Chicago Flood and the cleaning up after 1996 suburban floods, to removing graffiti and beautifying the County’s public property.
Everyone benefits: city and suburban citizens; the jail from reduced overcrowding; and the offenders themselves, who show low recidivism afterwards.
Only personnel cots are absorbed by the county. All vehicles and equipment are financed through fees paid by the offenders themselves, $40 to sign up and $12 per day.
Communities Benefit
SWAP offenders perform a wide variety of work for municipalities throughout Cook County. Typical jobs include:
- Expressway cleanup
- Vacant lot cleanup
- Official vehicle car wash
- Graffiti removal
- Cleanup after major events (e.g., parades)
- Tree removal and trimming
Tons of Trash
While SWAP offenders work countywide, the City of Chicago recorded almost 12,000 tons of trash removed from City streets in 1996 alone.
“Welcome Aboard”
Under a partnership with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), SWAP teams are cleaning buses at the CTA’s five busiest terminals, “This cooperative program gives us cleaner buses at no cost, and the offenders are performing useful work,” said CTA Chairman Valerie Jarrett.
One Family’s Thanks
This letter is to thank you for the support we received during the flood on July 24, 1996. The SWAP program workers were a welcome sight and a tremendous help in completing a task that seemed insurmountable. This gives a whole new meaning to community service — for the workers as well as the people involved in a disaster of this magnitude. Friday morning dumpsters appeared on our streets and the work began. SWAP went house to house helping to carry flood damaged property to the dumpsters and sweep driveways of debris accumulated from the flood waters. This allowed the homeowners to concentrate on their homes and salvage whatever we could. On Monday morning things were getting back to normal already. This could not have happened if we had not had the support of the SWAP program. At 8:30 our door bell rang and it was the Sheriff’s Department checking to be sure everything that could be done was and we were OK.
—A very big thank you from a grateful family
D.C.S.I. Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program
1311 South Maybrook Drive
Maywood, Illinois 60608
708.865.4960