ALBANY PARK — Five candidates are seeking the Albany Park (17th) police district council seats. The district includes parts of Albany Park, Irving Park, North Park and Avondale.
Credit: Kirk Williamson for the Chicago ReaderAnthony Michael Tamez
The chairman of the Center for Native American Youth’s Advisory Board and a member of the Chi Nations Youth Council, Tamez says, “Enforcing the consent decree is critical to our community’s safety,” and believes “police accountability can become a reality through co-governance.”
Alds. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) and Andre Vasquez (40th), United Neighbors of the 35th Ward, 30th Ward United, 50th Ward United Working Families, and 39th Ward Neighbors United have endorsed.
 Activist or organizer |  Supports more police accountability |  Political endorsement |
Candidate questionnaire responses:
- Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes
- Do you have experience interacting with CPD? Yes
- Do you have experience working or interacting with government? Yes
- Should the city hire more police officers? No
- Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.
- CPD reform: The police should be defunded or abolished.
- Mental health crises: Police should not be involved in mental health crisis calls at all.
What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?
- Establishing civilian control of the police department
- Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
- Helping the police do a better job
Why are you running for Police District Council?
I’m running for 17th District council because I believe that enforcing the consent decree is critical to our community’s safety, I remain committed to initiatives like treatment, not trauma, and believe police accountability can become a reality through co-governance. It is clear that I have a strong commitment to improving public safety and building trust in the 17th District, and I am well-suited for the police district council role. By running for this position, I have the opportunity to make a positive impact on my community and to work towards a safer and more equitable future.
Elizabeth Rochford
A nurse practitioner, Rochford works with ONE Northside on the organization’s Police Accountability Task Force. She helped write the ECPS ordinance.
Alderpersons Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) and Andre Vasquez (40th Ward), the ONE People’s Campaign, 39th Ward Neighbors United, 30th United, United Neighbors of the 35th Ward, and United Working Families of the 50th Ward have endorsed.
Activist or organizer | Supports more police accountability | Political endorsement |
Candidate questionnaire responses:
- Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes
- Do you have experience interacting with CPD? No
- Do you have experience working or interacting with government? No
- Should the city hire more police officers? No
- Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.
- CPD reform: The police need training and some reform.
- Mental health crises: Police should not be involved in mental health crisis calls at all.
What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?
- Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
- Establishing civilian control of the police department
Why are you running for Police District Council?
I have worked on this issue with ONE Northside’s Police Accountability Task Force since its inception. The district council is now a reality, and I want to continue to push for equity in our community policing. I believe I am uniquely qualified to represent my district because of my experience as a nurse, because I come from a police family, and because I was directly involved in getting the ECPS ordinance written and passed.
Steve Spagnolo
Steve Spagnolo, the chief of government relations and external affairs at the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, has worked for numerous political campaigns as well as for 43rd Ward alderperson Michele Smith. In that role he attended CAPS meetings and helped put together public safety events in the ward with the participation of the district commanders and their officers.
As a child, he lost his father to gun violence. “We need leadership that will hold police accountable, push back against failed ‘tough on crime’ policies, and work to implement impactful crime-reduction strategies,” he says.
Alds. Andre Vasquez (40th) and Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th), 30th Ward United, United Neighbors of the 35th Ward, 39th Ward Neighbors United, United Working Families – 50th Ward, and MWRD Commissioner Dan Pogorzelski have endorsed.
Supports more police accountability | Political endorsement |
Candidate questionnaire responses
- Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes
- Do you have experience interacting with CPD? Yes
- Do you have experience working or interacting with government? Yes
- Should the city hire more police officers? No
- Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.
- CPD reform: The police need significant reform.
- Mental health crises: Police should not be involved in mental health crisis calls at all.
What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?
- Establishing civilian control of the police department
- Other: Pushing for evidence-based policies that will improve police clearance rates on violent crimes. Including adding more detectives while reducing overall per capita officers which has not been shown to be impactful on crime rates as seen by Chicago which has the 2nd highest per capita officers among all major cities in the US.
Why are you running for Police District Council?
When I was just three years old, my father was killed in an armed robbery. No one was ever arrested for my father’s murder. Five years ago, I was robbed at gunpoint here in the 17th District along with several colleagues. No one was ever arrested in connection to the robbery, and I’ve only ever received one call from detectives about the incident.
For years, I have fought for police reform to achieve accountability, best practices in policing, and greater investment in resources that address the root causes of crime in our communities. Now, I want to fight for all the residents of the 17th District and those who travel into the district for work or pleasure. I have lived in the 17th District for over seven years, with my wife and our son.
It matters how our communities are policed, and it matters when violent crimes aren’t being solved for our victims and survivors of crime. We need leadership that will hold police accountable, push back against failed “tough on crime” talking points, and work to implement impactful crime-reduction strategies. I am running because I have the personal and professional experience to effectuate real and meaningful change regarding public safety in our communities.
Brian Sullivan
A Chicago firefighter, Sullivan recently tweeted, “As the 16th and 17th districts gang conflicts spiral out of control. Our simple request to increase the staffing levels of our dangerously understaffed districts have fallen on deaf ears. We need more police In [Districts] 16/17 ASAP.”
The Fraternal Order of Police and Chicago Firefighters Union local 2 have endorsed.
 Ties to police or FOP |
Political endorsement |
Candidate questionnaire responses
- Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes*
- Do you have experience interacting with CPD? Yes
- Do you have experience working or interacting with government? Yes
- Should the city hire more police officers? Yes
- Is CPD adequately funded? No: funding should be increased.
- CPD reform: The police are doing a good job, and need more resources.
- Mental health crises: Police should accompany healthcare workers to mental health crises.
*I have been advocating for logical and rational CPD policies to stop Chicago’s mass shootings, gun violence, gang violence, and Chicago-based gun trafficking. I have pointed out how certain CPD policies are not correctly addressing these issues and are actually amplifying them.
What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?
- Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
Why are you running for Police District Council?
The root causes of violent crime are complex and extremely difficult to solve, but society and our government must do everything they can to solve them. That being said, keeping the public safe from gun violence and violent gun offenders shouldn’t be politically divisive. Everyone has the right to live in a gun violence-free environment.
As the 16th and 17th Districts’ gang conflicts spiral out of control, our request to increase the staffing levels of our dangerously understaffed districts have fallen on deaf ears. As gang violence has increased, our district’s staffing has decreased. If that wasn’t bad enough, specialized units that could have addressed our district’s gang violence, who were staffed with gang specialists, have either been disbanded or had their staffing cut in half. CPD needs to start making policies that follow basic logic.
Any rational problem solver will figure out the cause of a problem before trying to solve it. Sadly, this approach is not being applied to Chicago’s gun violence and gang violence due to CPD’s restrictive policies. For instance, CPD’s social media order forbids the mass majority of the department’s members from viewing the social media posts made by Chicago’s violent gang members, Chicago’s violent gun offenders, and Chicago’s gun traffickers.
Chicago’s violent gangs use social media as a tool to further their criminal enterprises. They also use social media to further gang conflicts. Gang members will drive to a rival gangs neighborhood and post a video holding a gun under a street intersection signs or a landmark. By doing this they are soliciting their rivals to come outside and engage them in a gunfight. Gang members will also post videos of themselves driving around with a gun while making death threats to rivals. This type of real-time intelligence, in the right hands, has the potential to stop mass shootings, and acts of gun violence. Unfortunately, most CPD officers are not allowed to access it.
Chicago-based gun traffickers are operating out of our neighborhoods, and they are openly advertising the sale of illegal pistols, assault weapons and switches (a small device that makes a pistol fully automatic) on social media. The gun traffickers’ sales advertisements are protected from the prying eyes of CPD by the department’s ultra-restrictive social media policy. Chicago-based gun traffickers are using social media as a tool to further local Chicago based gun trafficking and CPD has responded with a policy that only authorizes a small number of Officers to view their social media posts. We will never get a handle on our out-of-control gun violence until we dismantle the Chicago based criminal organizations that are trafficking guns.
I have witnessed countless times the devastation gun violence has caused in our neighborhoods and our city. I have seen how CPD policies have allowed gun violence to thrive in our neighborhoods. I am running to give a strong and consistent voice for logical and rational CPD polices to stop Chicago’s mass shootings, and Chicago’s out-of-control gun violence. I am raising a young family in the city of Chicago and I want to raise my kids in a gun violence-free environment.
Nick Carusi
A resident of Irving Park, Carusi filed ballot petitions with the assistance of the Fraternal Order of Police’s election attorney, Perry Abbasi, who told the Reader the FOP referred Carusi to him. Carusi did not respond to requests for comment.
The Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed.
The candidate has not yet responded to our questionnaire.
Ties to police or FOP |
