Cook County Board members narrowly approved a resolution Thursday to share addresses of COVID-19 patients with first responders, following an emotional debate about the measure’s intention to safeguard front-line workers versus fears it would violate individuals’ privacy and civil rights.
Commissioners voted 9-7 with one member abstaining from the resolution, which would direct the Cook County Department of Public Health to disclose locations of those testing positive for the coronavirus with 911 dispatchers in suburban Cook County every day for two months.
While the measure by Commissioner Scott Britton, D-Glenview, is only a recommendation, department of public health spokesman Kim Junius said the Cook County Department of Public Health will follow the address-sharing practice because of the board’s instructions. That’s in spite of public health co-administrator Rachel Rubin’s warning before the vote that the practice was inadequate and dangerous for both citizens and first responders.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle agreed with Rubin, saying it’s guaranteed the address-sharing plan would contribute to the systemic racism that black and Latino communities suffer.
“I’m profoundly disappointed,” Preckwinkle said after the measure passed.
Earlier in the meeting, Preckwinkle warned, “I don’t see how anyone who understands the endemic nature of racism in this country, and the discrimination that black and brown people have experienced, will assume that this resolution is somehow going to be immune from that discrimination.”
While commissioners in favor of the resolution acknowledged the long-standing mistrust between black and brown communities and law enforcement, they said the dearth of personal protective equipment has backed them into a wall when it comes to thinking up solutions to protect first responders.
Britton invoked the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the black jogger who was shot to death by two white men in Georgia, as a nod to his understanding of the racism that people of color face every day. But he said the limits of the resolution, which expires in 60 days and only shares addresses, not names, will ensure there will be no government overreach.
“We all know from the incident that happened in Georgia that you can be hunted down by two racists in a pickup truck and murdered, and no one does anything for two months,” Britton said. “Can I tell you that there’s never a risk of overreach by the government or failure to act? Of course not. But I can tell you because of the limits of this resolution, that is not going to happen here.”
Britton held up a picture of a Niles Fire Department responder during his comment to highlight the extent of PPE required to respond to a place exposed to the new coronavirus. A man stood with gloves, a full-face shield and a silver body gown covering his entire body. Much of the PPE is not recyclable, Britton said.
“All I’m trying to do is to try to give a little more information to those first responders, the people who enter the burning buildings, the people who respond to the active shooters, to give them some more information so they can protect themselves a little bit more,” Britton said.
But Rubin said the resolution could backfire, as there are scores of residents who may have not sought testing because they are asymptomatic. Every individual that law enforcement comes into contact with should be treated as a COVID-19-positive case, Rubin said. Her position was supported by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“This is not good public health practice,” Rubin said. “Pushing out addresses to first responders does not help to maintain the safety of the first responders or of the individuals that they’re trying to respond to for aid.”
The measure comes after a legal challenge to instate address-sharing was shot down. Earlier this month, a northwest suburban 911 dispatch system failed in its bid to force Cook County to share addresses of coronavirus patients on Friday after a judge denied its temporary restraining order, sharing similar concerns as Preckwinkle and Rubin. But the judge did grant the village of Lincolnwood’s motion to intervene and set another hearing for early June.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul had advised that address-sharing is permissible due to a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) exception, but he did not go so far as to recommend the practice.
Much of the Thursday board meeting’s public comment section was centered around Britton’s resolution, with suburban villages, police departments and fire departments urging the need for address-sharing amid PPE shortages, and dozens of individuals and civil rights groups, including the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, saying it would lead to harm.
“Police Officers respond to assignments ‘on the fly’, and based upon the nature of the assignment, often times DO NOT have adequate time to don PPE before entering a scene,” Des Plaines police Chief William Kushner wrote. “Unnecessary delays (to don PPE) can mean the difference between life and death for innocent victims, and the officers themselves. Withholding address information of COVID-19 positive persons from first responders borders on criminal negligence.”
Chris Wade, a Peoria resident, implored the board to vote “no” out of fear it would worsen existing racial disparities amid the pandemic. In Chicago, black and Latino residents are disproportionately dying from the coronavirus.
“I am a black male living in society today who knows first hand about disease policing and criminalization,” Wade wrote. “We have seen the deadly effects of first responders acting out of fear — especially in Black communities. Passing this Resolution invites a new metric of fear and will augment the harm that Black and Latinx communities experience.”
Preckwinkle and commissioners also took the opportunity to censure President Donald Trump’s administration for what they described as a failure to deliver enough PPE for first responders that they said led them to the controversial address-sharing proposal.
“Until the federal government sends proper protective equipment and stops standing in the way of progress, we are at a wit’s end with our hands being tied with being able to provide the protection to first-line workers,” Commissioner Stanley Moore, D-Chicago, said.
Commissioners Frank Aguilar, Alma Anaya, Dennis Deer, Bridget Degnen, Bridget Gainer, Brandon Johnson and Kevin Morrison voted against the COVID-19 address-sharing resolution, while commissioner Bill Lowry voted present.
