In mayor race: ‘Let police be police’

‘Not on my watch,’ Lightfoot says of opponents’ campaign refrain

2022-07-31 - By Alice Yin and Gregory Pratt |

Inside a Southwest Side veterans’ hall with swift-spinning ceiling fans and a rapt audience, Ald. Raymond Lopez recently made his pitch on how to deal with high crime.

Beat officers patrolling neighborhoods need to be aggressive engaging “problem characters” or anyone who looks like they are up to criminal behavior, Lopez said, as the crowd of residents, some of whom identified themselves as former Chicago police members, applauded.

“It’s not racial profiling. It’s not harassment,” Lopez added. “It’s called officers knowing how to do their job because they know whether or not you belong here. They know whether or not you’ve got a rap sheet that’s seven pages long. They know whether or not you are selling drugs.”

Businessman Willie Wilson made a similar argument at a downtown banquet where he promised to “take the handcuffs off ” police and loosen restrictions on their activity, including new rules about foot chases.

“They have to be free to do their job and protect us all,” Wilson said.

Former Chicago Public

Schools CEO Paul Vallas frequently delivers a fire hose of social media posts about violence in Chicago that echo the sentiment. On July 24, for instance, he tweeted, “Absolutely ridiculous & unacceptable! Last night another mass shooting occurred with 5 shot! 3 mass shootings in the last 3 days. We cannot handcuff CPD & must allow them to do (their) jobs!”

The tough talk from those vying to become the city’s next mayor comes as Chicagoans are grappling with elevated fears of violence after crime began skyrocketing two years ago, including in areas that have traditionally been more isolated from shootings. In response, several candidates and law enforcement organizations have called for restrictions on officers to be loosened — an idea often expressed as, “Let the police be the police.”

But a move in that direction could upend a delicate balance between giving cops the support they need and reforming a long-troubled department. Its many dark chapters include a police torture ring led by Cmdr. Jon Burge, dozens of wrongful convictions tied to allegedly crooked detectives and the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, by police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Nationally, the ongoing debate over law enforcement tactics and crime has been reflected in other big cities such as New York, where retired police captain-turned-politician Eric Adams was elected mayor after campaigning on restoring public safety. San Francisco voters last month recalled a district attorney who has been criticized for progressive policies.

In recent years, Illinois policymakers and public officials have argued policing alone can’t solve crime and pointed to the need for major spending in disinvested communities as a sustainable strategy. But some pro-police advocates say Chicago cops are demoralized and less proactive, helping to embolden criminals.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, for her part, has walked a fine line on crime and policing. She has acknowledged the public’s concern about shootings while touting 2022’s reductions in gun violence. Lightfoot has also frequently criticized the Cook County court system for being too lenient on violent criminals and recently made the extraordinary declaration that anyone charged with a violent crime in Chicago is guilty and should be held without bail.

But Lightfoot, who ran in 2019 on police accountability as the former president of the Chicago Police Board, which deals with serious officer discipline, has also pushed back on those who are advocating looser rules, potentially setting up the 2023 mayoral race to be a referendum on how to best provide public safety.

“There have to be rules.

And fundamentally, what this comes down to is this: For way too long in this city, things have happened with policing that have undermined the legitimacy of the police, in communities all over our city, particularly Black and brown communities,” Lightfoot said, when asked about critics who argue that police reform has gone too far.

“You cannot be successful in serving and protecting the residents of this city if you do not respect their civil rights,” she said. “And the notion that we would turn back the clock as some have advocated, and ‘let the police be the police?’ Not on my watch.”

‘You mean like Jon Burge?’

Chicago ended 2021 with one of its worst years for gun violence in decades. The city’s roughly 800 homicides marked the highest death toll from gun violence in Chicago since the mid-1990s. There were about 4,300 shooting victims in Chicago at the end of last year, a massive jump from 2018 when there were approximately 2,800 people shot.

So far this year, homicides are down about 15% over the same time period in 2021, with Chicago police recording 366 through July 24, compared with 433 killings last year, official department statistics show.

The number of total shooting victims is down by 19% over 2021, with 1,874 people shot through Sunday, while 2,322 people were shot at the same time last year, the statistics show.

At news conferences on crime, Lightfoot frequently notes the city has recorded fewer shootings and homicides this year and calls it good progress, though she adds that the city needs to do more.

What she doesn’t mention, however, is that carjackings are up to 947 through Sunday, compared to 879 during the same time period in 2021. Violence has also spiked downtown, raising concerns about the city’s economic engine.

All this has happened as the city works through a series of reforms mandated by a federal court order and has implemented new rules on police conduct, which have been criticized both for going too far and not far enough.

Policing has been under an intense microscope since Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd in 2020, sparking civil unrest around the country. Lightfoot acknowledged recently “there’s more scrutiny on law enforcement now probably than any other time” but said that isn’t “a bad thing” and defended the steps she’s taken to reform the department.

“When I hear those, ‘Let the police be the police,’ (I say) Oh, you mean like Jon Burge? ... You mean like the people who caused the taxpayers of the city to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements, judgments and attorneys fees? Those folks?” Lightfoot said. “You mean, what happened before we put in constraints around police pursuits where people were driving, sometimes with lights and sirens, sometimes not, at speeds in excess of 80 and 100 miles an hour, and in the five years before I became mayor, the city paid out over $100 million in settlements and judgments because of car pursuits? Or you mean ... foot pursuits, one of the most dangerous activities that police engage in, where too many people ended up getting shot in the back?”

Though Lightfoot often talks about reform, she has also faced criticism over her handling of police issues. Her administration, for instance, fought to keep video footage of a wrongful raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home secret, which Lightfoot apologized for after falsely claiming she had not been informed of the incident.

‘It looks like a checklist’

During his campaign stop at the veterans hall, Lopez spoke on issues ranging from crime to the mayor’s casino pick, and the theme of the morning centered on a phrase he would evoke again and again: “Southwest Side common sense.”

That, Lopez said, means building relationships instead of enemies at City Hall. It means “bad people belong in jail. Good people need to be supported.” It means “hold parents accountable,” another of his mantras, for which he received another round of applause.

The refrain has gotten him in trouble with progressives before, such as when he agreed with criticism toward the parents of 13-year-old Adam Toledo after he was killed by Chicago police last year. But at the veterans’ hall appearance, it appeared to go over differently.

“How many of their kids are running around the city, destroying things left and right, but the moment you say, ‘Where are the parents?’ ‘Oh, we can’t talk about that.’ ‘Where’s Johnny’s mom or dad?’ ‘Oh, that’s racist.’ “Lopez said. “That’s not racist. It’s the truth.”

Vallas, the former schools’ superintendent, has often employed phrases such as “complete lawlessness” in describing the city, sometimes getting tips about shootings within minutes thanks to what he said is a network of at least 20 police sources he’s built over the years.

Vallas wants more of what he calls “proactive policing,” which includes ramping up low-level arrests. Despite a shortage of police officers, it’s important to chip away at the “environment of constant disorder,” and that starts with less-serious offenses that can possibly create a pipeline toward violence, Vallas said.

Critics have said such an approach potentially increases racial profiling and sends people to prison for minor offenses, creating a cycle of crime when they get out and struggle to find work. The idea, known as the “broken windows” of policing theory, has also been panned by some studies that argue it’s ineffective at lowering crime.

Asked recently about a sharp decline in arrests by the Chicago Police Department, Lightfoot called the question “interesting but ... complicated” and said the city’s cops are “working hard.”

“We should never encourage arrests for arrest’s sake. The arrests should be people that are committing felonies so the test is felony arrests, not arrests overall,” Lightfoot said. “And I think the superintendent and his team are really placing an emphasis on making sure that we hold violent, dangerous people accountable, felony arrests, and particularly emphasis on people possessing and obviously using firearms.”

One department policy Vallas wants revoked is the

new, yet-to-be-implemented foot pursuit policy that was released in June, more than a year after back-to-back fatal police shootings of Toledo and another person who was chased by Chicago police. Among its provisions is a rule that states officers can only engage in a foot pursuit if there “is a valid law enforcement need to detain the person” that outweighs the dangers of the pursuit.

In panning the policy, Vallas mimed checking off a to-do list. “It looks like a checklist,” he said. “All you’re doing is creating more obstacles for a police officer to move and tack decisively. … Why would you even get out of a police car if you see a criminal running down the street? Why would you even want to chase them, if you don’t have that checklist?”

Though Vallas is an outspoken critic of how police are operating under Lightfoot, he has also talked about the importance of violence prevention programs, including keeping schools open through summer and Saturdays and helping people who are unemployed or previously spent time in prison find work.

‘The safest communities aren’t heavily policed’

On the other side of the political spectrum, candidate Ja’Mal Green, the community activist, scoffed at the idea that policing has a strong correlation with reducing crime. In fact, looking to law enforcement was an “age-old, unsuccessful” tactic, he said.

“It is imperative for us to not look at police as a means to create a safer Chicago,” Green said during a Tuesday campaign event. “The safest communities aren’t heavily policed. They are equipped with viable, meaningful resources. The root cause of violence starts with those resources.”

The resources Green touted in his public safety plan included a $35 million youth intervention department to focus on those under 25 who are struggling, half of which would be funded by the Chicago police budget. He also advocated for spending $1 billion a year to support new homeowners and proposed setting up “healing houses” with mental health resources, yoga, massage therapy and more.

But Green also sought to avoid appearing as if he was downplaying the issue of crime. He stood with Nathaniel Pendleton, the father of slain 15-yearold Hadiya Pendleton, in discussing how to combat violence through pumping up community resources.

Though multiple candidates are on record supporting such investments, Green’s focus was hyperlocal. He noted he spent his first nine years living in a tight-knit block in Gresham — one he described as a “village” — before moving to a more disengaged and violent street in Englewood. There, he said he developed PTSD after almost being shot and seeing the bullets hit several others instead.

“I vowed that if I made it to the age of 21 that I will leave Chicago, a reality that many of our young people face,” Green said. “My story is important because it shows that my perspective is unique and my understanding is like no other’s in this race.”

‘A false choice’

Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer of the South Side 6th Ward, whose father was mayor in the 1980s, said he wants “effective policing.”

“Historically, as citizens of Chicago, we’ve failed the police in that we’ve always asked the police to do too many different things on too many occasions,” Sawyer said. “I think the police should be focused on their job, which is apprehension, catching bad guys.”

While Sawyer said it’s important to hold police officers accountable for doing their job effectively and legally, he expressed some concern about restrictions on officers. Recently, the Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown blog reported on a police supervisor called off a police chase of a vehicle filled with potential slaying suspects, which drew criticism and Sawyer’s attention.

“It was troubling and it is troubling to me because I still don’t understand it. It’s something we have to take a closer look at to make sure we are not inhibiting the police from being effective because I do want police to be effective,” Sawyer said.

A police spokeswoman declined to comment on the incident but sent the Tribune the department’s vehicle chase policies, which is more than 4,000 words.

Another announced candidate, state Rep. Kam Buckner, said there’s a “false choice” between effective policing and reform. He said the department needs to “balance safety and justice.”

In Springfield, Buckner led a push to overhaul the state’s criminal justice laws, including the elimination of cash bail for suspects.

Asked whether, for instance, the foot chase policy is too restrictive, Buckner said, “The truth of the matter is, it took months and months for the chase policy to come out and honestly, it still gives our cops the ability to chase based on their own judgment.”

“The real issue here is the vacancies at CPD and filling those vacancies, having officers on the streets,” Buckner said, so cops aren’t overworked.