Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s security costs continue to rise, as she’s set to add a new vehicle this year for her seven-member team.
Preckwinkle’s executive protection detail is budgeted to cost up to $1.5 million in 2026 for the “salaries, benefits, duty-related personnel expenses and other necessary non-personnel expenses of seven members,” according to Forest Preserves of Cook County documents. The district has handled her detail since 2019.
That’s up from $1.3 million in 2025. The 2026 budget included up to $130,000 to buy a new Ford Expedition to replace a 2019 model SUV in her seven-vehicle security fleet.
“Security protection for elected officials has always been critical, never more so than today,” forest preserve district spokesman Carl Vogel told the Tribune in an email.
Preckwinkle’s security team was increased from four to seven people in 2022 to allow for shifts of two three-person teams “after a review found inadequate full-time staffing dedicated to the real-world needs, as well as a reassessment of security demands,” Vogel said.
That boost came a year after a member of her detail was the target of an attempted carjacking outside her Hyde Park home.
“Compared to other counties of this size, the number of vehicles used is very standard and accounts for maintenance, breakdowns, and personnel logistics,” Preckwinkle spokeswoman Cara Yi told the Tribune in an email. “This allows security detail to work efficiently across multiple shifts and across the 940 square miles of the county. The president’s schedule often runs seven days a week, from sunrise into the night.”
There are currently five people in Preckwinkle’s detail and two open positions. Until those are filled, other officers are assigned as necessary, Vogel said.
The four security specialist operators and one deputy chief for executive protection earn between $135,715 and $141,848. Their combined salaries are $685,343. That’s more than other forest preserve police, who earn between about $71,000 and $98,000, according to FPCC records.
The detail was moved from the sheriff’s office over to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in 2014, then to the forest preserve district in 2018.
That last move followed an inspector general probe launched after one of the security fleet vehicles was found abandoned on election night in 2016. The investigation faulted Preckwinkle’s security chief for not checking on her safety after the car was discovered in the mud with its tires, driver’s seat and dashboard slashed and campaign materials inside.
The county reimburses the Forest Preserves district for the costs — and new vehicles for the president’s security fleet — as part of an annual intergovernmental agreement between the two bodies.
Per internal fleet policy, the vehicles in Preckwinkle’s detail are newer than the average FPCC law enforcement car. Vogel said the security detail cars are newer “because of the critical importance of public safety,” but noted roughly half of the patrol cars for sworn officers have been replaced in the last four years.
The executive protection fleet includes two black Ford Expeditions and five black Ford Explorers, according to district records. The oldest — a 2019 Expedition — is slated to be replaced by a 2025 or 2026 Expedition Max Platinum. The current price for the Max Platinum starts at about $77,000. The other security cars were purchased between 2020 and 2024, the same year the models were issued.
Protocols require two or three cars to assess locations “and provide sufficient detail protection,” Vogel wrote. “To ensure that proper security measures are consistently met, vehicles must be available, including in case of breakdowns or maintenance requirements. The geographic and personnel logistics are also considered as the detail team works in shifts and vehicles must be available for all shifts.”
The average model year for the other cars in the district’s law enforcement fleet is 2018. Districtwide, the average model year is 2016. The oldest, according to FPCC records, is a 1994 Hummer. Several landscape maintenance vehicles are from the early 2000s.
The forest preserve district board, which is composed of the same members as the county board, approved the new Expedition purchase at its December meeting.
It’s a heftier fleet than the president had a decade ago, when her detail was part of the sheriff’s office. Back then, according to the county’s inspector general, the fleet included two SUVs and three Ford Fusions.
The detail accompanies Preckwinkle wherever she travels, including political events. While the county’s ethics ordinance prohibits “the use of county resources for political and non-county business” and bars employees from engaging in political activity on county time, security doesn’t count, since officers aren’t engaging in the political activity itself, the county’s ethics board has found. Ethics officials for the city of Chicago and New York have similar rules.
The president does directly cover the cost of travel expenses when it is strictly for non-county business, Vogel said.
