Lynwood Police Chief David Palmer said Cook County is cleaving its budget woes with a meat ax by proposing 17 percent cuts across the board.

County officials are facing a $500 million deficit in a budget that must be approved by Feb. 28. Public safety officials argue the slash to every department will threaten the juvenile system, Sheriff's Department, public defenders and victim's assistance.

"The unfortunate part of whole matter is you compromise public safety when you make cuts in these areas," Riverdale Police Chief Greg Baker said.

Local law enforcement agencies like Baker's could be forced to absorb the brunt of some of the cuts, including the proposed closing of Markham's 24-hour lockup facility. Local police departments take their after-hours arrests to Markham. Some departments don't even have their own lockup facilities.

"That would be devastating to police departments," Lansing Police Chief Daniel McDevitt said. "Every day we bring people there."

He said he remembers the days when there was no sheriff's lockup in Cook County.

"It was very, very cumbersome for police departments," McDevitt said. "Having the Cook County sheriff's personnel there is a real asset to us."

If the 24-hour facility is eliminated, local law enforcement agencies would be forced to keep offenders overnight, feeding and monitoring them.

"Now we've been kind of spoiled," Baker said. "I didn't have to devote manpower hours, food or the ability to have to watch a prisoner."

If the proposed budget cuts are approved, local agencies won't have any choice but to fund the new expense.

"If they close that thing down, it causes an inconvenience, number one, and an increased cost on our end," Palmer said. "It would be a stretch, but it would be something we'd have to work at."

He said local municipalities don't have the funds to cover the costs because revenues are shrinking and judges often fine only court costs for lawbreakers.

Palmer and other local police chiefs said they haven't done a cost analysis for maintaining their own lockup facilities, but it will be expensive. They would prefer Cook County be selective by cutting the excess in departments that are not vital to the public's well-being.

"We hope it doesn't get to that point," Baker said.