Pete Bensinger "Cook County Sheriff Campaign Ad"

Transcript (Download)

The following paid for by the Citizens for Benzinger Committee, plus more than 2 ,225 Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who believe that Pete Benzinger will be a fair and honest sheriff.

It's about time people felt there was someone representing them in this complex but very important field of criminal justice.

Someone concerned about the victims of crime, the witnesses, the police, the individual neighborhoods.

You must be concerned, you must be professional, you must be able to do the job and have the heart to do it and the desire to do it and Pete meets those requirements with me.

I've been director of the Chicago Crime Commission, the nation's oldest.

I've been chairman of the Illinois Youth Commission, state agency dealing with kids, kids with problems and in trouble.

I've been head of the state agency responsible for the adult and juvenile correctional facilities in the state of Illinois.

I represent an alternative to Mr.

Elrod and that type of politics.

I represent all the people of Cook County fairly and equally and be interested in responding and having our office provide programs based on the needs of the county, not based on the What I'd like to do as sheriff of Cook County would be to provide a program so there was a special deputy that would be kind of adopted by the center.

One of the biggest problems in crime and law enforcement are the crimes committed by repeat offenders and in Cook County the repeat offender rate is over 70%.

When I was director of the state correctional system we reduced the repeater rate by 30 % in three years through common sense, meaningful programs and a logical approach to corrections.

We have to do better in Cook County to protect the public.

I think the sheriff of Cook County should have a juvenile youth officer in every township.

I think the sheriff of Cook County should develop as part of his budgetary program a means of making grants and aid to local community prevention organizations who are in a better position to handle the problems of youth in trouble than any bureaucratic agency that's governed at a county level or a state level.

This is of major concern to me and to my wife Judy.

She's a doctor with Head Start and she works with young kids and she knows the problems of kids who can become identified early on as potential people dropping out of school and not getting good health care and not getting good education.

Our primary work is really out in the city.

We have some 68 centers that we work all over the city of Chicago from in the projects and church basements and second story walk ups.

We cover the medical aspect of all of these centers.

A lot of the kids that are on drugs have not just a problem of utilizing a narcotic but really have got their own personal problems and low feelings and lack of communication with their parents and other kids.

But going into politics and going into public life is indeed a commitment and it's a commitment that you have to be sure you really want to do and you have to feel it inside of yourself in order to really do it.

And it's got all the bad things that go with it with you know politics, politicians, who are they, dirty people.

You know all of this is there now.

The people of Cook County are fortunate to have Peter Bensinger as a candidate for sheriff.

He has an outstanding law enforcement background, excellent credentials and he is a man of unquestioned integrity.

We believe that Peter Bensinger brings to the office of sheriff an independence, a freedom from the political patronage system which seriously permeates the entire office of Sheriff Richard Elrod.

Party lines are not important in a time like these.

I think it's what the candidate brings to the office and I think that Peter Bensinger is not only honest but he has quality which would be something new in the office.

As sheriff of Cook County, above all else I want to make fair and honest judgments and decisions tough as they may be based on the facts and the needs and on no other consideration.

And so I urge my fellow Democrats to vote for Peter Bensinger.

I know I can do this job as sheriff of Cook County and do it better than Mr.

A professional not a politician, tough and totally independent, what our sheriff should be.

Identifier

F.2005-05-0012

Date Of Production

1974

Abstract

A political ad for Peter Bensinger who ran for Cook County sheriff in 1974.

Run Time

0:04:27

Format

16mm

Extent

170 feet

Color

Color

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Language Of Materials

English

Genre

Sponsored

Form

Advertisements

Subject

Political campaigns
Politics and government
Politicians

Related Collections

Subseries I: Film Group Television Commercials

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ California ➜ Los Angeles

Main Credits

Chuck Olin Associates (is production company)

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