Mayor Brandon Johnson was accused Thursday of picking a new police-related fight with the City Council that has nothing to do with ShotSpotter — this time surrounding the longstanding demand for a new Southwest Side police district to speed response times.
The new district would alleviate the burden on the existing Chicago Lawn District, which serves the second-largest geographic area with the fewest officers per capita.
Southwest Side alderpersons thought they were well on their way to getting that new district when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill calling for the sale of a former Illinois National Guard Armory at 5400 W. 63rd Street to the city for $1 “for the express purpose” of creating a new police district.
But Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) and neighboring Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) are now accusing Johnson of pulling the rug out from under their plan.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, the mayor quietly introduced an ordinance to accept the state’s bargain basement offer — but to use the building for the “storage, maintenance and operation of police vehicles, equipment and aircraft.”
Quinn and Tabares are furious and believe their constituents will feel the same.
Last spring, residents of their two wards gave more than 88% approval to an advisory referendum demanding a new police district.
“The mayor is ignoring the language of the bill, the intention of the bill and he’s disregarding the voices of 12,000 Chicagoans,” Quinn said.
“In this city, we hear arguments about communities being over-policed. Those numbers suggest that the Southwest Side is under-policed — grossly — to the point where it’s dangerous. When my residents have to wait an hour for a police response time, that’s a dangerous situation. Nine officers for every 10,000 residents is a dangerous situation.”
The 8th District police station in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, shown last year. The ribbons and bunting were in place as officers mourned officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso, fatally shot while responding to a call of a gunman chasing a woman. Ald. Marty Quinn has been pushing to create an additional police district in the area, saying the current 8th District is the largest geographically. but has the fewest officers per capita.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Quinn said he can’t understand why Johnson would want to do battle with an emboldened Council on yet another front on the heels of the still-raging ShotSpotter controversy.
In his first 17 months in office, Johnson has already lost two votes, cast two tie-breaking votes and been forced to settle for his second choice for Zoning Committee chair after being unable to secure enough Council votes to confirm his top pick, progressive firebrand Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th).
He’s now struggling to close a $223 million shortfall by Dec. 31 and a nearly $1 billion budget gap next year heading into a difficult budget season, when he will need every vote he can get.
“I look at this as an easy opportunity for a win. Come on. Be a part of the team. J.B. Pritzker is part of the team. Seven members of the City Council are part of the team. …There’s a lot of room on the bus,” Quinn said. “We just hand-delivered to you a building for $1.”
The mayor’s office had no immediate comment.
Quinn acknowledged the building cost is only part of the battle. It’ll take millions more to staff a new police district at a time when Johnson will likely be under pressure to reduce the Chicago Police Department’s $2 billion-a-year budget.
“I’m not just going in with my hand out and saying, ‘Mayor, I’ve got this problem. Can you fix it?’ I’ve built consensus. I’m helping to deliver buildings. I’m part of the solution here. The question is, is the mayor? … It doesn’t look like he’s part of the solution.”
Tabares accused Johnson of thumbing his nose at “all of the community input we’ve been working so hard” to generate.
“More police are needed on the streets. He’s ignoring that. He needs to prioritize public safety — and he’s not,” Tabares said.
“Residents deserve to feel safe. Residents should not wait hours after calling 911. No one should. There should always be a police car right around the corner when someone calls 911.”
Last year, 1,061 calls to 911 in the Chicago Lawn District were designated “radio assignments pending.” That’s more than double the number of such calls in 2020. The number of “assignments pending” calls are continuing at the same monthly pace or higher this year.
One of those calls was about a week ago, when Gerry Trujillo, principal of Louis Pasteur Elementary, called to report an angry parent was “attacking” a member of his staff.
“We waited over two hours for a squad car to come out. … This is now like 6 p.m. … Myself, the assistant principal and the teacher who was being assaulted were here because we wanted to make the report. We were kind of getting desperate. We were on the verge of jumping in our cars and just driving to the police station,” Trujillo said.
After Trujillo called Quinn, a squad car showed up within 10 minutes.