County Sheriff Posts Wanted List Online

Concerned citizens now have online access to information about people with active warrants who are being sought by authorities, the Cook County Sheriff's Office announced.

A press release issued last week by Sheriff Tom Dart's office provided details about the new services. Police hope it leads to more anonymous tips to help investigators take violent fugitives and other wanted people off the streets.

There are two new links on the Cook County Sheriff's Office website.

Search Criminal Warrants

Information on 44,000 people with active warrants is searchable by name or last known location. Pictures of those being sought are in the process of being uploaded.

Search Child Support Warrants

Search 1,000 records by name or address for parents wanted for failing to comply with court orders associated with financial support for their children. Photos are also provided if the person being sought has a previous criminal history.

The sheriff's office also solicits the public's help tracking down fugitives on two "Most Wanted" television programs, according to the press release.

The effort has netted several arrests, including the apprehension this summer of Jeremy Mitchell, a high-ranking Ford Heights gang member who shot at a rival but instead struck a woman standing nearby, according to the press release.

Dart is hopeful that increased access to public information about fugitives will result in a reduction in the backlog of warrants now occupying investigators’ daily workloads.

Of the roughly 44,000 fugitive warrants available online, the sheriff’s office has developed maps showing the last known addresses of about 26,000, according to the press release. Other warrants contain incomplete address data or the subject’s last known address was unavailable when the warrant was issued.

Dart expects the information to be investigated and updated at a pace of about 3,000 warrants a month, the release noted. At that rate all fugitive warrants would be updated by next spring and, when addresses are known, mapped.