Good afternoon, everyone. The Committee on Police and Fire will come to
order. We will have a roll call to establish quorum. Alderman Taller Farrell?
Present. Vice Chair Robinson?
Present.
Alderman Hall is present.
We'll have the Rule 59. Alderman Mitchell?
Present.
Alderwoman Lee?
Alderman Curtis? Alderwoman Taylor?
Alderman Mosley?
Present.
Alderwoman Tabaris?
Alderman Irving?
Alderman Cardona?
Alderman Irving is present.
Alderman Sposato?
Alderwoman Nugent?
Alderman Napolitano?
Alderman Knudson?
Alderman Gardner?
Alderwoman-
Present in Zoom.
We have nine members present. We do have a quorum.
Pursuant to Rule 59, we have
a few aldermen that have requested to appear by Rule 59.
Alderman Hall.
Is there anyone else?
Alderman Gardner and
Irving, Alderwoman Taylor, Sposato, and Knudson
have all requested to appear pursuant to Rule 59.
Can I get a motion?
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Alderman Sposato, are you present with us?
Nick Sposato.
Alderman Sposato is present. Alderman Knudson?
here.
Okay, Alderman- Mr. Chair, Alderman Knudson is present.
Alderman Knudson is present. Alderman Irving?
Alderman Irving? Alderwoman Taylor, are you present?
Alderman Hall, are you present?
Alderman Hall?
Okay, we have Alderman Sposato and Alderman Knudson that are appearing
pursuant to Rule 59.
Alderman Gardner, are you present?
Present, Chair.
Okay, Alderman Gardner is present as
well.Um,
Alderman Vasquez is present.
Is anyone else that need to be recognized?
Yes.
I ask the record show that I'm today at everyone being here, plus Lozado.
I know. Everybody's... Yeah.
The record will reflect.
Nick,
well, Ald- Alderman Lozado, I think he heard that, but, um, it's good to see that,
um, that he's getting better and feeling much better.
Yeah.
Um, before we start our meeting, or at the beginning of this meeting, I want to
take this time, um, to recognize and, and take a moment of
silence to recognize Chicago police officer, uh, John G.
Bartholomew, star number 12963, um, who
died in the line of duty on April 25,
2026, protecting this great city.
Can we take a moment of silence at this time?
Thank you, everyone.
Um, at this time we will have public comment.
Um, our first speaker for public comment will be,
um, Mr. Chris Laurent.
Each, each speaker will have three minutes.
You may begin.
Good afternoon, committee members and attendees.
My name is Chris Laurent, and I currently serve on the 14th Police District
Council. I'm urging this committee on police and
fire to pause the approval of these nominations before you, provided
for consideration from the mayor, until there's been adequate public transparency,
meaningful community input, and a thorough review of the impact these
approvals of these appointees could create.
Given that the municipal code requirements, the approval of these selected
candidates would allow the entire concerns of public safety and
accountability to those of two individuals under the age of 25.
The people in this geographic area and the city deserve some foresight
in this decision-making, foresight that our mayor has
overlooked.
When making these selections, it is important to remember the outline parameters
assigned. As it stands, two youth voices are required to make up the
commission. The appointments to be filled in this selection are to replace
one commissioner from the North Side, one youth commissioner from each the North
and South Sides. By selection of one commissioner from the South Side, the
makeup of the remaining positions is two youth commissioners from the
North. This sim- simply cannot be considered to be sufficient.
Appointments involving public safety, leadership, carry enormous
responsibility and long-term consequences for community trust,
accountability, and public confidence.
Rushing this process without sufficient scrutiny undermines the public
participation and weakens the confidence in the committee's
decision-making. A pause would allow residents,
stakeholders, and committee members the opportunity to fully examine the numis-
municipal code, ask necessary questions, and ensure that these
appointments align with the values and needs of the community.
I respectfully ask the committee to delay any vote on these nominations
until a more transparent and inclusive review process can occur.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Laurent. Our next speaker is Brad Kessler. Mr.
Kessler, good afternoon.
Thank you.
We can reset the time. I won't use all of it, though.
Thank you. Uh, hello, my name is Brad Kessler.
I'm the chair of the 18th District Police Council.
I want to thank the chair and all the members of the committee for your time today.
I'd also start by thanking the nominating committee that followed the rules of the
ordinance and worked diligently and thoughtfully in their work.
I also want to mention that I respect and appreciate having youth voice and
representation within the seven-person commission.
But I came here to highlight that the decision in front of you today, which
includes a youth representative from the North Side, will leave one more open
youth position, which must also meet the requirement of residing in the North Side.
This will lead to having the only two youth representatives required on the
commission to represent the North Side.
And we're not just speaking about the next four years, but the likelihood of the
four years after that, and the potential after that due to the staggering term
limits in which the two open youth and North Side positions would expire in 2030.
All of the incredible communities across our wonderful city deserve fair
representation, and having both youth appointments come from the same geographical
area does not fully reflect the diversity of experiences across Chicago's
North, South, and West Sides, especially because the CCPSA
was designed to pro- broad community representation and public safety oversight.
I don't think the ordinance intended on the likelihood before you today that will
lead to two youth positions tied to one region in Chicago for the foreseeable
future, but I respectfully ask you to pause and consider this outcome.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you, Mr. Kessler. Our next speaker is Sachi Kubo.
Ms. Kubo.
If you would please allow me, I would like to cede my time to Karen
Kane here.
I need them to sign up as well, ma'am.
She signed up.
Oh, you are? Okay.
You're next-
Mr. Chairman, this is Alderman Irvin. I'm present.
The n- thank you, Alderman Irvin. Uh, the motion has been made and approved.
Alderman Irvin is present. Uh, Karen, Ms. Karen Kane.
Yes.
Good afternoon. My name is Karen Kane, and I am on the
18th Police District Council on the North Side.
I am here to sound an alarm, to ring a bell,
and to try to get attention from the committee members to
really understand all the intricacies of the ordinance and
how it demands certain actions. Many North
Siders are not satisfied with the current situation
being caused by the ordinance, and it is the ordinance that
is causing this problem, not anything to do with the nominating committee
of the district councilors who worked very hard on this process.
So here's the pointIf the two appointees before the committee
are approved today, this will result in the
entire North Side of the city, as defined by the
ordinance, which is approximately one million residents,
will be represented by two youth commissioners while the
remainder of the city is represented by experienced
adults.
I do not believe the ordinance is well understood.
Time should be taken, a pause should be taken before a
vote is taken. The CCPSA has important
decision-making authority, including selection of final
candidates for the superintendent of the police, the hiring and the
firing of the COPA chief, and other important policing
decisions. It is our collective
responsibility that we select and place the people
on the commission that are best suited and have the proper
level of experience to make these important
decisions.
Youth should absolutely have a seat at the table.
They should have an established process to voice their opinion,
and it is very important to include them in the process.
But appointing both of the two required youth
commissioners is not reflective of the community.
This is not a progressive issue. This is
not a conservative issue. It is a good
governance issue, and I respectfully ask the committee members
to take the time, pause, really understand the
requirements in the ordinance before casting any votes.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Kane. Our next speaker is Quishanda
Harris.
Ms. Harris, good afternoon.
Hi, good afternoon. My name is Quishanda Harris, and I
actually put something together to present to Zoning and Land
Building Standards. But I see some of the same people here at
this committee, so hi to the Fire and Police Committee.
And
so this is a proposal that I have. So I'm here today to request
the committee support in prioritizing this facility for the
city's youth, the sanitation facility that I'm developing.
I know the city is actively repurposing unutilized
buildings, and this project must be one of those priorities.
Although the facility have been abandoned for some time, it once housed
Venezuelan residents, and restoring it would bridge a critical gap in our public
health system. I am asking as
the committee of overseeing Zoning and Building Standards to
prioritize this project for city use.
By doing so, we ensure that it doesn't get overlooked.
Placing this sanitation facility directly across from the Chicago
Police Headquarters is ideal. It fosters safety,
dignity, and bridges the gap between public safety and community care.
With your support, we can integrate this vital resource into
Chicago's strategic plans in ensuring that
it serves all of Chicago's neighborhoods just as well as the
Chicago Police Headquarters. I do understand that the headquarters is in
Bronzeville. I am from Bronzeville.
And just as the well as the headquarters service the whole Chicago land,
this model blueprint project can service the
land in the same sense of dignity, safety, and
surety. So I'm asking for support on this
zoning project for this facility to be used as priority city
standards. I do understand it's in Bronzeville. I am from Bronzeville.
Bronzeville is a predominantly diverse community, so it's
safe, dignified, and we won't have to worry about individuals traveling there.
That being right across the street from the Chicago Police Headquarters,
people, we're dealing with mentally ill, drug-ridden,
and no health condition individuals.
So I think that'd be the best place for it.
That's my honest opinion, and I would love if you guys can consider that
as a location idea for this project.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ms. Harris. Our next speaker is Sully Peterson
Quinn.
You have three minutes. Good afternoon.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
My name is Sully Peterson Quinn. I'm the campaign coordinator for the Grassroots
Alliance for Police Accountability.
The Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability is a Chicago-based
coalition united by a common demand for safer neighborhoods
through equitable and just community policing practices,
community-led oversight, and transparent, accountable policing that serves the
needs of all Chicagoans.
Our members include One North Side, GoodKids MadCity Inglewood,
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Target Area Development, Southwest
Organizing Project, Community Renewal Society, Policing Project,
and Impact for Equity.
I'm here today to underscore our coalition's deep and ongoing investment
in, and commitment to, the success of the Community Commission
for Public Safety and Accountability.
In 2021, our coalition proudly worked alongside other community
partners and members of City Council to pass the ECPS
ordinance. That victory was the result of years of organizing,
advocacy, and collaboration with communities across Chicago who called for a
stronger, more transparent, and more accountable system of public
safety and civilian oversight. It was a hard-won
fight and an important victory, but it is our coalition's ongoing
commitment to see the commission succeed that brings me here today.
The commission represents a critical step towards meaningful community governance
and public safety, and its effectiveness depends on continued
engagement from the communityThe commitment of city leaders to politically empower
these systems of oversight and infuse them with all necessary resources, and
it requires commissioners who are prepared to take on the responsibility with
urgency, integrity, and purpose.
To this end, every member of our coalition is
encouraged by the opportunity that these new appointments provide.
We are eager to continue working alongside the commission and its members to ensure
that the vision behind the ECPS ordinance is fully realized, one where
accountability is real and community voices are centered.
We remain committed partners in this work and look forward to collaborating with
both current and incoming commissioners in the months and years ahead,
and remain incredibly enthusiastic and excited to work with
the nominees who are before the committee today.
And thank you all so much for your time.
Thank you, Mr. Peterson Quinn. The chairman recognizes
Alderman Felix Cardona as being present today for
purposes of a quorum.
And Alderman Hall, are you with us today?
Alderman Hall?
Yes, I am, Alderman Telephone. Thank you so much, Chairman.
Thank you. The motion has been made and passed.
Alderman Hall is counted as present for purposes of a quorum as well.
Our next speaker is Sam
Schoenberg.
Good afternoon, Mr. Schoenberg.
Good afternoon. Again, my name's Sam Schoenberg.
I'm a 19th Police District Councilor and a member of the District Council
Nominating Committee. And I rise today on behalf of
13 North Side District Councilors who sent a letter to the committee this morning
urging swift confirmation of Angelique Guzman and Anjanette Young to the Community
Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
And you should all have a copy of that letter.
In hard copy, it includes all members of the 17th, 19th, 20th, and
24th District Councils, and the nominating member from the 16th District
Council.
Ms. Young and Ms. Guzman are both highly qualified to serve on the CCPSA.
Each was vetted and nominated after a rigorous process developed by the District
Council Nominating Committee in strict compliance with the CCPSA ordinance.
Both candidates fill important roles called for in that ordinance.
In particular, Ms. Guzman has been selected to serve as one of two
required commissioners who are youths between the ages of 18 and 24,
and as one of two required commissioners from Chicago's North Side.
We understand that certain district councilors, who you've heard
from today, have raised concerns
that because of the ordinance's geographic and youth requirements,
the current appointments would necessitate that the two North Side commissioners
would also be two youth commissioners.
They have called to pause the current appointments.
While we appreciate the emphasis on transparency and community engagement, we urge
this committee to reject that call.
The request to pause these appointments would only delay consideration of two
exceptional commission candidates, and potentially hamstring the work
of the commission while doing nothing to change the requirements of the ordinance.
The nominating committee voted for their slate of CCPSA
nominees in full knowledge that the mayor's eventual choices could mean
that two North Side youths sat on the commission for the coming term.
That result is not a defect. It is a consequence of the ordinance's
design and of the careful consideration of both the nominating committee
and the mayor during this cycle of nominations.
In addition, while the ordinance requires geographic diversity, all
commissioners serve the entire city of Chicago.
The ordinance does not require commissioners to represent only the part of town
they come from, nor has that been the CCPSA's practice.
There is thus no reason to believe that North Siders will be at any
disadvantage simply because the two commissioners from the North Side are also two
youths. And as 13 North Side district councilors ourselves, we
welcome this representation.
Nor should concerns about the CCPSA's overall structure be used to delay
consideration of these appointees.
If there are broader concerns about how the representation of the CCPSA is
structured, the appropriate course would be to amend the ordinance.
But the significant engagement that would require is separate from the
task now before the committee, which is the appointment to fill two
imminent vacancies. Ms. Guzman and Ms.
Young have met all criteria and successfully navigated the process to be
nominated, and we urge this committee to advance their appointments to the full
City Council without delay.
Mr. Schoenberg, our next speaker, Mr. George Blakemore. Mr. Blakemore?
Good afternoon.
My name is George Blakemore, and I am
from this police district, the 18th
Police District.
It was on Larabee,
where old Cabrini-Green.
That police district is very racist.
The 18th District
is very racist. I can tell you stories
after stories, after stories,
the negative effect that it had on
me as a street vendor. How they stole my merchandise
and auctioned it off. How they arrested me when I had my
license. It's a racist district.
And then
someone spoke to me out here, Ms. Anjanette.
I said, "Oh," and I didn't recognize her.
She's been a victim
of racism.
That's the big picture. Racism. She's a
living witness and been a victim
of racism from the Chicago Police Department.
It's very important to have a lady of her
caliber to sit or set one of these
on this commission.
Look, and I hope that you will not delay this.
The 18th District
were stealing my hats, and my gloves, and my artwork, auction
it off
The terrible things have happened to me with this
18th Police District.
The nightmare.
Feel like a Georgia slave.
I'm the right one to support the slaves.
Because they treated
people
humiliating.
Humiliating her. Humiliate their
position. And then for you to delay it, no.
Don't even entertain to delay it, pass it as
is.
I've been a victim
of racism at the police district, the
18 district, one of the most racist police
districts in the city of Chicago.
So God sent me here to speak on that.
Terrible, just my handcuffs. Ooh, my handcuffs.
Thrown me in the back. Oh, Lord have mercy on me,
that 18th District.
That notorious 18th District on the Gold Coast
is very, very, very racist.
Don't you tell me when my minutes are up.
They didn't handcuff you.
Oh, my little ribs was just hurting. Ooh.
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore. Our next speaker is Mr. Taiwan Sims.
Mr. Sims.
Good afternoon, sir.
Hey, good afternoon, committee.
So, some time ago I came in, I spoke to you all about
false arrests. False arrests for simply coming down here advocating
for what? The fact that I'm homeless still,
the fact that I have not seen my children now, my youngest child in three
years. That would be the case that I came down here speaking about,
23D79597, which has only escalated
to
24DV7255101,
which is now a criminal charge, a violation of an order of protection,
which should not have been given to the respondent because I'm the petitioner in
that case. I came here three years ago.
No, no, two and a half years ago, speaking to you all about that.
I came to y'all also about
JG396151 when I was shot in the
stomach.
Got all the paperwork back from BIA,
all of it,
to no avail because it only shows me as an uncooperative individual.
But how can an individual who came down to City Council speaking diligently
be uncooperative?
But not only that, the two cases,
25120458301, which
I was arrested April 16th, 2025.
25120869201, when
I was then wrongfully arrested, once again under illegal enforcement
for the same charge, but it was wrote up in a
different charge.
On that day,
Officer Garza was able to somehow generate this
court date,
and I'm sure that you all being a police committee can find out
how.
If the case had already been SOLed and not reinstated, then there shouldn't have
been no enforcement.
I shouldn't have had any involvement with Officer Garza at that date.
There shouldn't have been no way that this court date was generated.
Also, as I had to go through so much from the
CCPSA. Adam. I did see Adam. Nikki.
What's your name, young man over there?
Oh, I went through every oversight committee
from the CCPSA to BIA to COPA, all the way
to the Office of the Armed Inspector General in regards to this as a
constituent.
And I'm still under illegal enforcement.
As I stand in this box right now talking to y'all, they still have not
taken this enforcement off me.
But on this, this is the worst of it.
There's a date on 6/20 in which I was supposedly in at
3150 North Flournoy
petitioning for a reinstatement of a case against myself.
It says right here that I am the petitioner for the
reinstatement of a charge against myself.
The date, 6/20/2025, similar to this
date that was generated on this paperwork, and I would like to know how.
Thank you, Mr. Sims. The chairman recognizes
Alderman Curtis for purposes of being present today for quorum.
Our next speaker, our last speaker actually, is Ms. Jessica Jackson. Ms. Jackson.
Good afternoon, Ms. Jackson.
Good afternoon.
I'm listening to both sides, and I
remember the case of the lady in the front when that happened with
the police coming into her house and stuff, and that's a horrible, horrible,
horrible thing to have happen to that lady.
Let's be crystal clear on that. My concern
is when you talk about the appointments of
Mayor Brandon Johnson, I want to
make sure that the appointment is based on
merit, not another symbolic gesture by him.
He'll appoint somebody Black into a position to make it look
like he's doing this pro-Black move when in
fact it's not. When in fact it's for everything and
everybody but Black people. That's my concern.
This side of it, when they're talking about this person's supposed to be over the
youth or whatever like that, we have to make sure that this is a
person that's really going to do something about it.
This issue with these teen takeovers and stuff like that is a
real problem in the city. It should not be
handled softly with kid gloves and acting like these things
are not happening. It's the proper way to protect our
youthIf we really want to help the Black kids out
here, we've got to handle the situation properly.
And that's with proper policing,
proper appointments,
and appointing people that will actually deal with the issues
that dealing with these teens and these teen takeovers.
So that's really all I got to say about it, is that whoever gets
appointed,
and I'm not saying that this woman didn't go through a horrific thing.
I remember seeing that. That is one of the most horrible things that the police
department could have ever done to an individual.
And then when you connect it to more than likely,
if you look at what Sims is saying, if you look at what I've been going through,
I bet you that happened to that woman because of
some false or fake information that was in court
records.
Yeah.
This thing with court records, with not being adequate,
not being accurate, it's a real problem.
And we keep saying the clerk of the court, you all are the
legislative branch of the city. You all need to go to the clerk
of the court and demand that court records are accurate,
that they do in fact show what really happened, and that these
corrupt judges that write a lot of these court
orders are held to accountability because they're wrecking people
lives with the contents of these orders.
It's not enough that things are just filed on a certain date,
chronologically correct and things like that.
It's the contents that cause harm.
The contents of records is what got this woman in this position.
The clerk of the court, we're demanding that you all see about these court records.
Thank you, Ms. Jackson. That concludes our public comments.
I want to thank each of you all for participating in
today's committee meeting.
Each of you should have received, on March 13th, 2026,
a Rule 45 report regarding the meeting that was held on that same date.
Do I have any questions or comments about the Rule 45 report?
Can I get a motion for the approval?
So moved by Alderwoman Lee. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The Rule 45 report of March 13, 2026 is
approved.
Today we have three items on the agenda, and we will go in order.
Item number one... Well, we will actually take, excuse me, item
number one and item number two together, but they will be voted on
separately. If I could have the witnesses, Mrs.
Angelique Guzman, Anjanette Young, and Mr.
Adam
Gross. Adam, I almost forgot your name for a second. Mr.
Adam Gross, please step forward to appear at the witness box.
Item number one,
appointment
2026-0024728,
the appointment of Angelique Guzman as Commissioner of the
Community Commission for Public Safety and
Accountability. Item number two,
A2026-0024727,
the appointment of Anjanette Young as Commissioner of the Community Commission for
Public Safety and Accountability.
And we have also joining us today, Mr.
Adam Gross, the Executive Director of CCPSA.
We will begin by having a brief, three to five
minutes opening remarks. First by Ms.
Angelique Guzman, followed by brief opening remarks
from Ms. Anjanette Young, and then we will have opening
remarks by Director Adam Gross.
Once opening remarks have been completed, then all
committee members and council members will
open the floor for questions and answers.
Ms. Guzman, you may start. You have three to five minutes.
Good afternoon, Chairman Taliaferro,
Vice Chairman Robinson, and members of the committee.
I am honored to appear before you for consideration of my appointment as
a youth commissioner on the Community Commission for Public Safety and
Accountability.
My name is Angelique Guzman, and I currently reside in Albany Park within the 33rd
Ward and CPD's 17th District, and I attend Mather High
School,
where I'm on track to graduate on May 28th and attend Loyola University in the
fall.
I lost my father at two years old, and at five my mother left
me in care of my grandparents. I later lost my uncle to cartel
violence after he was deported to Mexico.
I share this not for sympathy, but to show that I have faced significant hardships
and so continue to push forward for a brighter future.
I applied for this role because I care deeply about the safety and well-being of my
community, especially for young people.
Through my internship at the 40th Ward office, I worked directly with
residents, answering calls and assisting with front desk intake,
and connecting people to city services.
That experience has required me to listen carefully, assess
issues
quickly, and ensure concerns were followed through on,
and taught me how to manage different types of concerns and make sure people got
the support they needed.
I've also spent the past four years with the North River Commission's Youth
Council, where I now serve as president.
In that role, I've led meetings, coordinated with community partners, and
worked with young people to plan events and connect residents to resources.
That experience has strengthened my ability to bring people together, navigate
different perspectives, and be an independent thinker, and turn
ideas into action.
As a commissioner, I understand this role carries real responsibility.
The commission helps shape CPD policy, evaluate our public
safety leadership, and ensure that these agencies are accountable to the
communityI am prepared to approach that responsibility with
thoughtfulness and care.
I also believe that youth voices need to be a part of the decisions, not just
represented, but because we bring a perspective that is often missing.
We experience these issues in real time in our schools and our
neighborhoods, and can help identify gaps in how
policies impact young people.
These experiences have informed the type of commissioner I will be.
Someone who listens carefully to all sides and stakeholders of an issue,
someone who makes an informed and independent decision, and someone who will
go out of their way to connect with communities across the city to ensure our
approach to policing and public safety reflects the interests and
needs of all Chicagoans.
I want to be on the commission because I have experienced threats to safety
firsthand.
I've seen it with my peers. I have witnessed the challenges police face in
carrying out their jobs and keeping people safe.
I want to serve the people of this city by helping to ensure that our
police department and our public safety systems represent the best
ideas based on evidence, research, and community interest.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I welcome your questions.
Thank you, Ms. Guzman. Ms. Young?
Good afternoon, Chairman Taliaferro-
Ma'am
... Vice Chair Robinson, and the members of the committee.
Thank you all for an opportunity to be here today to speak on why
I believe I should be confirmed for this position.
As many of you know, my name is Anjanette Young.
I'm a licensed clinical social worker with 30 years experience
serving individuals, communities across the city of
Chicago. I currently live in the Morgan Park area in the
21st Police District, and I'm a proud representative of my community.
I've come before you today with both professional expertise and lived
experience. You all know, in 2019, I was a
victim of a wrong police raid carried out by the City of Chicago Police
Department. That moment was very traumatizing.
It was violating. It was life altering.
But it did not break me. It actually shaped my purpose.
It gave me firsthand understanding of what happens when systems fail
our community. It strengthened my resolve to help
rebuild trust between community and law enforcement
through meaningful, lasting change.
Over the past seven years, part of my healing journey has included
collaborating with and learning from top officers
within CPD to improve policing practices.
That work has reinforced my belief that accountability and
collaboration are not opposite forces.
They are essential partners in creating a safer community.
I want to be clear, my lived experience does not compromise my
ability to be fair. Let me say that again.
I want to be clear that my lived experience does not
compromise my ability to be fair if I am confirmed
for a commission seat. It actually strengthens my
commitment to be just.
As a social worker, I am trained to assess situations objectively,
to hold multiple truths at once, and to make ethical
decisions grounded in fact, not decision.
I understand the weight of the responsibility that comes with oversight, and
I take that responsibility seriously.
I have demonstrated my commitment to fairness and justice through
in-depth conversations with Superintendent Snelling
about this and what
it takes to foster real change, change that improves safety,
strengthens relationships between community members and the police.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and
Accountability requires leaders who are willing to ask the hard
questions, demand transparency, and to ensure
policies are not only written, but effectively
implemented. My work has always been rooted in core principles
of social work, dignity, integrity and
accountability, and the importance of human relationships
within it all.
If confirmed, I will come to the commission with an open mind.
I will not bring predetermined agendas, but
I will bring a strong commitment to the principles at the heart of this
mission.
I will prioritize increasing public safety, strengthening
oversight and accountability, advancing trauma-informed,
community-centered police practices, ensuring policy
reviews and reforms are data-driven,
equitable and community-informed, and centering community
voice in decision-making, not as an afterthought,
but as a requirement.
My professional training allows me to analyze systems critically,
while my lived experience ensures I never lose sight of the human impact
behind every decision. I am prepared to serve with courage,
integrity, and a deep commitment to ethical leadership.
I will not shy away from difficult conversations.
I will not compromise when it comes to justice, and I thank you for
your time and consideration, and I welcome all questions.
Thank you, Ms. Young. Mr. Adam Gross.
Director Adam Gross.
Thank you, Chairman Taliaferro, Vice Chairman Robinson, and
members of the committee. Chairman Taliaferro asked me to speak for a few
minutes about the process. It's a detailed
and complicated process, and so wanted to try to
provide some information so you all understand how we landed where we
are today. When there are anticipated vacancies on
the commission, the ordinance lays out a process for filling
them. The basic approach is that a nominating committee
made up of one representative from each district council nominates
two people for each vacancy. The mayor chooses one
candidate for each vacancy, and then the city council votes
on whether to confirm those
candidates.A bit more detail about that
process
before it gets to the mayor and the city council.
90 days, or at least 90 days before there is a vacancy, the nominating
committee has to make an application available and leave the
application open for 30 days. This year, with three
anticipated vacancies,
the nominating committee received 53 applications.
After receiving the applications, the nominating committee is required to interview
at least four people for each vacancy.
So in the case this year with three vacancies, they're required
to interview at least 12 people. This year for the three
vacancies, they interviewed 15 candidates.
And then from the pool of people that they interviewed, they need to pick at least
two applicants for each vacancy.
There are a few things that I'd like to highlight about the process.
The first is that the nominating committee, together with staff, developed a
detailed process to ensure that every commission applicant receives
fair and careful consideration. That includes steps
to anonymize the applicants in the first review.
There's a scoring system so that each applicant is assessed
quantitatively. There are procedures to reduce bias in
reviewing the applications, there are communications norms for the
deliberations, and there are rules of order to govern the
decision-making process.
If you'd like more information about the process, there's a publicly
available 86-page report released in 2024
that describes every step. And members of the nominating
committee have really gone to great lengths to make sure that there's a
thorough and fair process that results in the best possible nominees.
Second, I want to highlight a key element of the process,
and it is one element of the process that is spelled
out very specifically in the ordinance.
In order to be selected for an interview, and to be selected as one of the
nominees whose name is sent to the mayor,
you need super majority support from the nominating committee.
To get an interview, there needs to be a quorum present to vote, and a candidate
needs support of two-thirds of the people who were there.
But to be nominated, the ordinance specifies you need
the support of 15 people on the nominating committee.
No matter how many people show up for the vote, you need
15 votes of a 22-member body. The nominating
committee is a diverse group. It's diverse geographically, racially,
ideologically. And it was by design to
require that anyone whose name would be forwarded to the mayor
have the support of two-thirds of the members of that body.
There was an understanding by people advocating for the
ordinance and by the members of the city council
who passed the ordinance, that you need candidates who can win
support from a broad swath of people.
And that is how the process works.
I also want to highlight one thing that makes the nomination process
challenging, and you heard some about this during public comment.
The ordinance sets out some very specific requirements for
candidates. Some are qualities of character, things like integrity,
professionalism, sound judgment, independence, fairness,
objectivity, and an ability to work collaboratively.
And the nominating committee asks about all of those qualities and looks for
them in the candidates that they're considering.
There are also requirements that two commissioners be lawyers with at least 10
years of experience, two must live on the South Side, two on the West Side, and two
on the North Side, and two must be between the ages of 18 to
24 at the time they're appointed. And all of
these qualifications overlap. So this time, the
nominating committee had to find applicants to fill three expected
vacancies, where two of the vacancies are for
commissioners from the North Side, and two vacancies are for commissioners
between the ages of 18 and 24.
So that meant that in the process, the nominating committee had to
prioritize applicants from the North Side for those two vacancies and
prioritize applicants between 18 and 24.
That was, as you heard, to meet the requirements of the
ordinance.
In any process where you have a lot of strong applicants, as the nominating
committee did in this case, there are going to be very qualified applicants
who won't be selected. And that challenge
increases in a setup like this, where there are
these overlapping requirements.
So for example,
this year, of the 53 applicants, 21 of the
applicants came from the North Side.
16 of the 21 were older than 24.
And given the requirement that two of
the
selected
candidates be youth candidates, it was only possible under
the ordinance for
one person
over the age of 24 to be selected. So if we were to
focus just on the North Side applicants, of the
16 people over the age of 24 who applied,
it was only mathematically possible for one of them
to be selected for the commission.
And in this case, there was one North Side nominee who was over the
age of 24.
So it's a real challenge that the nominating committee
faces. I think given all of the requirements in the
ordinance, they did an incredibly admirable job rising to that
challenge and identifying the very strong candidates who
you have before you today. I'd be happy, today or
at any point in the future,
to discuss the selection process with you.
And
thank you for your support.
Thank you, Mr. Gross. I will start us off, and then I
willI'll move over to my colleagues.
Ms. Guzman and Ms. Young, let me thank you for your
hard work and your dedication to the city, and your commitment
that you just laid out before us, and
certainly commend you for wanting to serve the city in the capacity
that's before you.
And I particularly want to mention Ms. Young.
As I told you
personally during our conversations,
it can't be said enough how horrific the situation was
that you went through,
how degrading and demeaning it was for you personally.
And it was shared nationwide.
But one of the things that I so respect about you
is that you never took a moment
to
talk bad of our police department, although you had gone through what you did.
You took a moment, rather, to talk about policies that
needed to be changed so that this does not happen to someone else.
And that gains a lot of my respect. And so I certainly
appreciate the fact that after you've gone through the
horrific situation that you did,
the wrongful situation that you did,
you chose a path that is
so much identifiable in your character, and that's to
look at policies. How can we change policies to make sure
that this does not happen again? So I thank you for that and want to
publicly have that put on record.
And Ms. Guzman, I really enjoyed our conversation as well.
Unfortunately, some will say, "Hey, she is young."
And that's great,
because we need young folks
at the table to make decisions about the city.
Look, we're not just folks in the city that are beyond the age of
24 or 26. We're a city of all residents
of all colors, creeds, and ages, and nationalities,
and religion. And so I'm glad that you're stepping up to the table
to represent our youth community.
Mr. Grosso, if I could ask one question because it was said in public comment,
and I want to make sure I have a clear understanding of it.
A commissioner
represents the entire city, if I'm not mistaken.
But yet they are from the north side or west side or south
side. It has always been my understanding that
they are representative of the police department, or I should say representative of
the city, as they look at policies and procedures that
affect our police department and our communities.
Am I correct in my understanding?
That's absolutely right.
Okay. So Ms. Guzman is not just representing the north side,
but she's representing our Chicago Police Department and our residents in
trying to affect and have the best police department as possible.
Correct.
Ms. Guzman, I apologize for you interning in the 40th Ward.
I think-
But I say that jokingly, but I do know if you interned there,
you have come away with a lot of knowledge.
And so
I won't say that again, Andre.
It is on record. Are there any questions or comments for any of the
witnesses?
Vice Chair Robinson.
Thank you, Chairman.
Ms. Guzman and Ms. Young,
thank you.
Ms. Guzman and Ms. Young, thank you
for
answering the call.
Ms. Young, I have a couple of questions for you, but before I
ask those questions, I also think it's
proper to reiterate on the record
with my colleagues and in this body
what happened to you
was totally unacceptable.
And you did not
waver in your commitment to the city of Chicago.
You've continued to do the work for the citizens of
Chicago, and I just want to thank you.
But I have a couple questions for you.
Your resume shows you have
a MSW in mental health-
Hi, how are you today?
... with adolescent focus
from University of-
Yeah, you too. How's everything going?
That is correct.
Let's make sure
if you are online, please let's make sure that you are muted.
That is correct. Okay. All right. So Ms.
Young, again, with adolescent focus, correct?
Yes, sir. Okay.
30 years of service.
Yes.
You're a licensed clinical social worker,
is that correct? Yes, that is correct. Suicide prevention. Yes.
Trauma-informed care. Yes. Based on mental health.
Correct. All these are correct? Yes, sir.
So when we think about appointments on merit,
ladies and gentlemen, I can't see a better example
than Ms. Young, who experienced what she experienced
under the
Chicago Police Department.
Social worker, adolescent focus.
So when we think about appointments,
I think that as the public, we have to be very careful what
we say as public servants and witnesses
that come before this body,
because what we say can be construed
asNot proper.
We have somebody here, 30 years of service,
adolescent focus, why would we not appoint
Ms. Young?
And so
I think that we have to be clear what we say,
ladies and gentlemen.
These appointments,
this appointment, excuse me, is on merit,
and I can't think of a
better example than Ms. Young.
So, Ms. Young, I want to thank you again
for answering the call,
not taking your ball
home, not taking your ball to another city or state.
You stayed here and done the work. And so a
comment that was said earlier,
I want to apologize for,
because you are exactly the appointments that this city needs to move
this city forward. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Alderman Mosley.
Thank you so much, Chair. And thank you to our two nominees before
us today. I think about the quote that talks
about public safety, and the trueness of it speaks to
the collaboration
from community.
The ordinance that governs this process,
we see it working out in front of us.
We see in our youth the
opportunity to weigh in. As someone who
really became involved in the fight against gun violence prevention
as a youth by losing a friend, in high school, I
commend you for stepping up,
for making sure that you are representing your peers.
Oftentimes those folks who are so heavily
impacted from violence, from gun violence,
making sure that your voice is not minimized, but amplified
in working together with youth. And of
course, I have to commend you, Ms. Young.
You didn't just take your ball and not go home, but you took
everything, you came to the 21st Ward, and we are proud to have you there.
And
what I want to make sure that this discussion today is centered
in is both credentials and
compassion.
My colleague, Vice Chair Robertson, spoke at length
about your resume.
And I think when we even look at this ordinance
and how it was intentional about making sure that there
is representation of those from different age
demographics, from different geographical notes
throughout the city.
Mental health,
health in general, is such a critical component
to public safety.
I had the opportunity in organizing a campaign for Dr.
Vivek Murthy when he was a nominee for the US Surgeon
General under President Obama's first term.
And his nomination came forth as a block because he said gun
violence was a public health issue,
and they did not like that.
Today,
I would still argue that public safety
is rooted in public health,
and we have to look holistically
at how we solve that to create a better,
safe neighborhood.
Those issues show up
as officers show up.
And those issues show up
when officers come home.
And so to have a level of expertise that is
represented here
in front of us,
I hope we don't miss that moment, and sharing
it with this entire city. And ingraining
it throughout our policies and procedures
in a process that is designed to put
forth
the best public safety opportunity
available. So I would ask my colleagues
to think
about what is before us and how
it can lead to a better outcome for
public safety. I've made my decision.
Just like I stood with Dr. Vivek Murthy, I'm going to stand with both
of these candidates because I believe that together,
holistically, in the process and the
policy that we have,
it allows us to stand stronger with public safety.
Thank you, Chair. I yield the rest of my time.
Thank you, Alderman Mosley. A motion has previously been made
and approved by this committee. Alderman Knudson, are you
present with us?
I'm present, Chair, thank you.
Thank you. Alderman Knudson is added to the, as present for purposes
of a quorum. Our next-
Mr. Chair?
Yes.
Mr. Chair, I just wanted to let you know I had my hand raised. That's okay.
Alderman Hall. Alderman Hall, I have you present as well.
For
comment about the subject. Yeah.
Oh, okay. I'm sorry. We have Alderman Curtis, followed by
Alderwoman Lee, and then Alderman Hall.
Thank you.
Oh, okay. Man, all these hands all of a sudden.
Okay, let's go with Alderman Curtis first.
All right. Thank you, Chairman.
First of all, I want to thank both of you
for stepping up.
I want you to know that, uhWhen
the items first came up
and we were getting our calls about the
appointments,
I was a strong no.
Very strong. I'm actually torn now
with this.
I could not agree more
with our speaker,
Mrs. Jackson,
and
the statement she made was actually true.
Ms. Young, I hate to see what you've been through.
It just tore my heart, and I
followed you ever since then.
And like my colleagues say, you have not wavered.
But also,
what I was
thinking was
I always want to be fair. God has given me the
serenity to
view people as I see them, and
I want to be as fair as I ever could be,
because I believe it pays off. Things just running
through my head.
I also thought of
a phrase that we used to use
a long time ago. It's not
fun now that the rabbit has the gun, and I thought of
you, right?
I thought of you because I said, uh-oh, this is
going to be a situation where you
got me this time, and I'll get you this time, right?
But
your background has definitely
softened up my heart and what I was thinking.
And your testimony today was
actually awesome.
Ms. Guzman, first thing
I thought, maybe you were too young,
but
I also understand that there's a youth commission also.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Yeah, a youth commission. Yeah, a youth commission,
which you would be perfect for
with what you've been through. And if you can explain that youth commission
to me.
Great.
Alderman Curtis, who was that directed to?
Probably Mr. Grossman.
Okay, Mr. Grossman.
We have two different commissions.
One is a youth commission
and regular commissions.
So there's a seven-person community commission for public safety and
accountability, and by ordinance, two of the appointed
commissioners on that seven-person body have to be between the
ages of 18 and 24. There's a separate body that
might be what you're referring to, Alderman Curtis, which
is a CPD creation, the Youth
District Advisory Council.
Okay.
Yeah, that may be it.
So,
I'm just praying and hoping that
with these appointments, I wish it was actually
voted on
by the people instead of a mayoral appointment.
Sometimes that don't go as well.
But
I'm praying that,
again,
Ms. Young,
my heart really goes out to you, and
I am fair enough to give you that opportunity.
So, I would definitely be
supporting
these two
appointments today, even though I was a strong
no
today coming in the door.
But
again, sometimes you just have to listen to people and give them
those opportunities. Is there something wrong with our system?
Because this should've never happened to you.
And that's what I agree with Ms. Jackson on.
We have to find out where the flaws came in at.
What happened on the county level?
Why was this warrant issued to your property?
So that's something else we have to look at.
But right now, again,
I definitely support
this appointment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Again, previously a motion was made and passed
with regard pursuant to Rule 59. Alderwoman Taylor, are you joining us today?
Yeah.
I am here, Chairman. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Alderwoman.
I am.
Alderwoman Taylor-
Can you hear me?
Alderwoman Taylor is present for purposes of a quorum.
Alderwoman Lee, followed by Alderman Hall.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon. I just had to check the time.
It's nice to see you, Ms. Young, and to see you in
person,
Angelique.
I had a great conversation with each of you yesterday.
Really appreciated the time.
Ms. Young, I've gotten to know you.
The universe put us all together, right?
I think it goes without saying that we all feel strongly about
what happened to you and
that it should never happen again.
So I won't belabor that point. But I
think I share a lot of the
same sentiments that my colleagues have shared about
fairness. Right? That's what, on balance, I'm looking for with members
of this commission. I want to make sure that whoever I'm supporting
is someone who can look at every issue on its own,
really understand the weight of the responsibility that this
commission has, that it's been empowered to do by ordinance.
I wasn't here when the ordinance was created.
It's clear to me that there's some work that needs to be done, and we should be
doing that with all legislation. Nothing is perfect when it's written.
There are very clearly some things that need to be
examined and likely tweaked.That's not
what we're here to discuss today, though.
So I want to make sure that we're calling out that distinction, and I'm going to
join my colleagues. I think there are several of us who are interested in
taking a look at how the ordinance is written and the challenges that it's
created in terms of ensuring that there is equal
representation for all parts of the city, and that we haven't necessarily
hamstrung ourselves.
But I think what we have are two quality candidates today.
When I had the opportunity to
speak with
Angelique... I have two boys, 17 and 19, so
you're right in between their ages.
And I think I mentioned to you on the phone,
I was
struggling to think about either one of my children
volunteering for a position like this.
It is an enormous responsibility at any age, and at
18, that you're willing to step up and take on that responsibility
is very commendable. You are poised and accomplished,
and I have no doubt that you are going to be
a good voice on this commission. And as I told you
yesterday,
I really wasn't sure where I was going to end up, and it was less about you as a
person and your abilities, and more about the thought that an
18-year-old would hold a position like
this with a vote. Two positions, actually.
Not just you, but young people of as young as 18 with this
enormous responsibility. So I'm going to take that up a separate time.
That's not what we're discussing today.
I believe in the nomination process.
I spoke to district councilors in my own district, and other districts
as well,
who were in support of your nominations.
In fact, I don't know that it's for public consumption, but y'all scored really
well. Clearly, you made it through the chute.
So, I think it's real easy for people to
politicize
an appointment like this. They're mayoral appointments.
And I think all of us
sitting in these seats have to examine that, too.
Have to take a real hard look at whether or not
something is
more political than
what is in the true best interest of the city.
And by virtue of the fact that the nomination
process presented candidates then to the mayor.
The mayor didn't just pick you out of a hat, didn't say, "These are the people that
I want" from the beginning.
You went through a whole process. It was rigorous,
and I think it produced good candidates.
I'm excited to see your contributions on
the commission.
And I want to wish you both well. You both will have my support today.
And, again, back on the record around the things that we need to
do to make this run more smoothly, and to ensure that we don't run
into a scenario where
we are... It feels like the Dewey Decimal System.
Those of us that are old enough to remember- ...
the cards in the library when you were searching for books, and sticking the
thing through. We need to find
a better way for us to ensure that the people who are interested
in serving in these capacities
are not
summarily disregarded because of the restrictions that we've put in.
I think that they were done with good intentions.
I think now that we've had the benefit of some time, we should be going back and
taking a look at many aspects of the originating
ordinance to make sure that whatever isn't working currently is being
addressed. We don't need to stick with things that don't work.
But we also need a full commission.
Doesn't serve the city not to have a full commission at all times.
So I thank you for that, Director Gross.
I appreciate the time that we had to chat about this as well.
And with that, I'm going to yield my time back. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderwoman Lee. Alderman Hall, followed by Alderwoman Tabaris, and then
Napolitano, followed by Tabaris. Alderman Hall.
Again, thank you so much, Chairman, and to my colleagues, for allowing me to
adapt to Rule 40, Rule 59, I'm sorry.
I just wanted to say briefly to
both of you, thank you for answering the call to public
service.
It's a cross to carry, and
you all have, throughout your journey here in Chicago and
beyond, have shown your commitment to serve.
And I just want to say, as my colleagues have said,
you all are qualified more than what paper can
ever describe, and your commitment through heart and
character is what we continue to need in Chicago.
And so thank you for your commitment to bettering
our city.
But moreover, thank you for having the heart to do it.
And I want to say to my sister, Anjanette, I'm so
grateful for your heart, that while it was broken,
you have shown us the power of life beyond the
brokenness. And so thank you to you all both, and I look forward to
assisting you in whatever way I can to help make our city better.
Thank you all.
Thank you, Alderman Hall.
Alderwoman Tabaris, followed by Alderman Napolitano, then
Alderwoman Taylor. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This is directed to Ms. Anjanette Young.
I'd like to lay out and discuss some statistics
with you.
Yep.
From 2014 to
2019, Chicago police officers were
shot or shot at, at an average of 20
times per year, from 2014 to 2019.
In 2020,
the number increased
339% to
79 officers in that year.
In 2021, it was 76. In
2022, 55. In 2023,
68. And in 2024, 62.
During this period, the Chicago Police Department
recovered over 40,000
guns. We also lost police
officers Ella French,
Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso,
Officer Arianna Preston, Officer Luis Huesca,
Officer Enrique Martinez, Officer Crystal Rivera,
and recently, Officer John Bartholomew, as his
partner continues to fight for his life in the hospital.
This spike in violence against police occurred in the
wake of the George Floyd riots and the height of the
Defund the Police movement.
Many of these incidents were
documented as ambushes
that occurred while police officers were
responding to 911 calls.
In many cases, officers never returned
fire, showing great restraint
and de-escalation. Recently,
the city council denied a proposed lawsuit
settlement for the estate of attempted police murderer
Dexter Reid.
In that incident, Reid shot a police
officer.
Mm-hmm.
You were quoted in an interview with
WTTW, calling police returning
fire excessive.
With the statistics telling the truth, and as we
prepare for an officer's funeral on Friday,
I don't think that this is the perspective of
somebody who can be objective.
You're before the committee today seeking an appointment to a
commission born out of the same movement that also saw
the skyrocketing of attacks on police.
Since its creation of the CCPSA, the commission has
mostly pushed efforts to restrict officers despite
data showing more violence is done to
officers, not by officers.
We have avenues to report police misconduct,
and officers are still being disciplined when necessary.
CPD also has some of the most restrictive
processes for obtaining search warrants in the country.
Since 2020, crime has dropped due
to a state's attorney who prosecutes offenders.
The CCPSA's existence is unnecessary,
and tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere.
If it exists, we need individuals who can
analyze statistics and develop sound public
safety policies that protect police
officers and the public. We need
individuals who are avoiding dangerous anti-police
rhetoric that incites violence.
For that reason, I am voting no. And Mr.
Chairman, I ask for a roll call on both appointees. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Tabares. Alder-
Would you like me to answer the question?
Okay, thank you.
Alderman Napolitano, followed by Alderwoman Taylor, and then Alderman
Vasquez.
Thank you, Chairman.
I don't know how to follow that.
I couldn't agree with you more. Actually, I was going to say I believe Ms.
Jackson hit it out of the park today,
or hit it into left field for a home run today.
But I have to say,
my partner to my right here hit it out of the park.
And to both of you, I tip my hat to both of you stepping up and
wanting to be a part of making the city a little bit better.
So this is in no way, shape, or form against either one of you volunteering your
time, or as well as anybody connected to CCPSA that had
volunteered their time, that try to make the city a little bit better
and puts it out there,
attends the meetings, and wants to
find a way to make this city work and function a little bit better.
But that being said, I was a no in 2021 when this was created.
I'm a no on this today, just because I think
this entire group or this
entire CCPSA is a farce.
I think it's an absolute waste of money,
and I don't want to take it away from you that are all volunteering your time
because you stepped up to do it, but it's a waste of $4.3 million.
What we should have created, and I said this back then, is we should have created
the Community Commission for Community Accountability.
That's what we're missing. For community accountability.
We're missing the accountability for over 25,000 people shot in the streets.
We're missing the accountability for over, what is it, 16... No, I'm sorry.
It's 12,000 people murdered in the city of Chicago.
That's where the accountability lies that nobody wants to touch.
They want to create something like this that was created in
2020, 2021, to say that we got it done and we're proud
of ourselves. But speaking with members of this and people that
attend the meetings, and again, I'm going to reiterate for the fourth time or the
third time, this is not a slight against you that all step up to put your time out
there to try to make this better. But people attending these meetings, people
a part of this, actual people a part of this, are telling me
that this is a waste of time. This is a waste of
taxpayer dollars.
So if we want to revamp this,
if we want to amend this and make it better for the next year or so, I'm all
on board for it. I'm all on board of you guys being a part of this if we can make
it better. But I think we should make it more on community
accountability. Community accountability to
raise your children, to not pick up a gunTo not
shoot at the police, to not rob people in the streets, to not
take the streets over in our youth wildings, to not
destroy our subway. I don't know who's ridden the subways, but I'm on it
every day, and they are destroyed, they're disgusting, and they are dangerous.
And anybody that gets on says that they're not is lying.
You're absolutely lying.
So community accountability would be nice.
I don't think we should be funding this for $4.3 million.
I'm going to be an absolute no on this.
And I'm looking forward,
after the next election, to getting rid of this completely.
And I'm looking forward to maybe working with all of you that are volunteering your
time to maybe us coming up with a better concept or a better way to
make Chicago better
than this
group of however many people, I don't even know what the number's up to now,
66 people. And this is not a slight on Andre, who
really put a lot of hard work into making this, because it was a great concept and
idea at the time. And I'm sure he's going to be a part of making this better in
the future. But what we have here is a pile of garbage,
and it needs to go.
And we need to make community accountable for what's happening to the city of
Chicago, not just the police who already have seven forms of
accountability that go after them every single day, trying to
fire them and get rid of them because
it's easier to defund the police if you fire them, and it's easier to
defund the police if you get people to not want to apply for the job
anymore, because that's the demonization of the police department.
And that's what's happened to the city of Chicago.
So we're not filling positions of police because there's people out there that are
making sure they get fired, lose their job, even the ones that are trying to do the
best job they possibly can. And yes, there are bad coppers out there.
There's bad people in this building, too.
No, you're a good person, and like I said, I'm not taking anything away from this
concept and all of you volunteering, but this is a sham and it needs to
end, and I look forward to being a part of it, getting rid of it in the next
administration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Alderwoman Taylor.
Alderwoman Taylor, followed by
a point of information, Alderman Mosley.
Chair, I just want to ask,
our police superintendent that was unanimously supported by city
council, where did that recommendation come from?
I'm sorry, what was the question again?
Our police superintendent that was unanimously supported by city council,
was CCPS not a part of that
process and actually gave that recommendation?
Are you referring to whether or not they gave their recommendation to these
appointees?
No, no. Of our police superintendent, Larry Snelling.
Yes. At the time, our superintendent was
supportive.
Okay.
Is the police superintendent appointed by the mayor of the City of Chicago?
No, he was born into that position.
Yes, he's appointed by the mayor.
Two edges of the sword.
Okay.
Alderwoman Taylor, followed by Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you, Chairman. To Ms. Guzman and Ms.
Young,
thank you for wanting to do this work.
It behooves me how we have the conversation about policing, but
we won't talk about the numerous police officers who've killed innocent
people. Where is that conversation?
And so there are good and bad on both sides.
What bothered me is while we talk about we have all of these police
accountability councils, what have they done to
change policing?
Absolutely nothing.
And so while I do struggle with CPSA, and
I struggle because people do not understand their roles.
This is supposed to be like a local school council.
You don't tell the superintendent and teachers what to do.
What you do is you advise them on legislation and things
that can make policing better. And I think we've lost the concept
of what this is supposed to do. And so
definitely, I see Ms. Young on a weekly
basis doing the work to connect community with resources.
I know Ms. Guzman's background in working around
offices and politics, and so I'm excited about y'all
appointments, but let's not act as
if we ain't spending billions of dollars in police
settlements for some of the same officers. Where's that conversation?
Want to have it? What I was going to say to Alderwoman Tobias
is she actually just put out something to talk to the
county about being on home monitoring, those type of things,
which I want to be a part of and have the conversation.
Because if we remember, the police officer that attacked
Ms. Young and went in her home while she was naked, were looking for somebody on
the monitor. And so where was this conversation and this worry when it
happened to us?
Now, because it's happened to an officer, we're running
to make sure we hold those folks accountable, when we've been trying to hold them
accountable since Anita Alvarez.
And so policing is a problem in the city of Chicago.
Chairman, I couldn't sign in on time because I was at a
groundbreaking for the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial,
which this city council passed because they know we got bad
officers that do bad things.
And I'm going to be honest, I'm excited that Superintendent Snelling is
in that seat because he is born, bred
from the city of Chicago, and he's been a police officer forever.
And we cannot fix in 10, 20 years
what's been wrong with policing.Because let's remember where
policing came from. It came from the United States
law, slave police slavery, and so they needed to figure out how to
lock people up. And we know who are in those spaces.
Black and brown folks, the majority.
I don't like us talking in dishonesty.
I don't like us having conversations that are not honest.
Now, there are two sides. I don't ever want to see anybody get
shot and killed, and that
includes a police officer.
It is traumatic to know that people who are supposed to serve and protect
us put their lives on the line every day and cannot
go back home to their families. That is disheartening for anybody.
But it's also disheartening when you're a 16-year-old sitting in a car
doing nothing, you're shot and killed by the people who are supposed to serve and
protect.
I will be voting yes on both of these appointments. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderwoman Taylor. Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I feel like the conversation's definitely gone into a tangent, so I want to first
address
the nominees.
For the record, both of you are young.
Go team. Somebody will get that later.
Miss Anjanette Young,
you represent the best of what this city has to offer because
I am confident
that if the majority of people here went through the scenario you went through,
they would not have the patience and the integrity to even go through a process.
I don't think they'd even want to interact with the city of Chicago.
And you have been patient time and time again, as this
council has not passed legislation that it should have.
You have all the right in the world to be screaming at every single one of us
anytime you see us,
and yet you've made the commitment to try to better this city.
And even just
your patience now is something
I hope to someday get, and I just really want to commend you for it, because it's
not easy to go through everything you've gone through, and even in a
situation like this, to be re-traumatized every time the conversations
come up. And so I can't thank you enough as a
Chicagoan for the example you set that a lot of us should actually strive for.
And so I want to thank you for that.
Ms. Guzman, I'm biased. Everyone here would know that.
A lot of us have interns in our office, and most of the time we're running around
with our heads cut off and don't necessarily engage with the interns.
We're busy going to all the things that we have to do.
And to have you really stand out and
take initiative to articulate what an opportunity it is to
even help the city out means a lot. I think we
talk ad nauseam about teen trends,
wilding, or whatever term us old people want to come up with because we're so far
removed. You're definitely old, but it's okay. We're family.
But we always think that we can pick it apart, we know what the right answers are,
and we're so far removed from when we were actual youth that I don't think we have
the insight into actually how to solve the problems and how to address the
incentives that drive youth to actually go find places to hang out and
maybe find themselves in situations they shouldn't.
Or
the fentanyl problem, or other things.
Asking us how to solve those problems leads to
inarticulate and outdated answers that sound very carceral in
nature but don't lead to results. And so I appreciate having
someone that is a youth on the commission.
It is why when we drafted the legislation, we sought to have that.
I know that for our colleagues, it appears...
Not appears, it is a reality that the nominating committee had to jump through
hoops to try to figure out who to fit into what positions because of the
different requirements. All of that was created because they were workarounds
from just having people being elected,
which is actually what the ordinance was seeking to do to begin with.
But because of state law, ended up with a whole nominating committee,
the district councils being elected, the commission being nominated by them, and us
still trying to figure out, how do you create a commission that is reflective of
the city and not just people of privilege and of money and access or
who knows whom being the ones being appointed?
That did clearly, in looking at how it plays out, lead to a lot of different
hurdles that I think it is fair to look at and try to make corrections in.
I think we also know, all of us know, that the fact that two district
councilors in the same district can't talk to each other is a problem.
And so rather than it being 22 district councils, I think it should be one district
council, which would then solve the problem as to what the open meetings act would
make it look like.
So I just want to name all those things.
I think there is a opportunity and conversation to be had that shouldn't just be
the city council. It should include CCPSA.
It should include other stakeholders to make sure that we get a proper answer and
improve things.
The reason we write legislation is because we're always improving legislation.
It's fair to have the conversation.
I do think it is a bit insincere to talk about the
$4.3 million that are being spent when we spend $150
million every single year over misconduct settlements, which says that the system
is not a fair one. It is not one that has oversight.
It is not one that is being addressed properly.
I also want to commend all the district councilors that are here, almost all of
them.
18th District, I appreciate that you're sharing your voice.
What I don't appreciate is when somebody says that the CCPSA is a waste of time for
a member who's a district councilor to not his head in agreement.
It's an embarrassment. Quit your job if that's what you
believe. We are here to do a service, and if
any of the council members here who do the service said that our jobs don't mean
anything, we shouldn't be in the position.
There's a seriousness and responsibility necessary for that.
If you don't have it, please move. Let somebody else who's willing to take it step
in.
Now,
we want to make sure,
and I want to modify language because I think we bring up a lot of things, some
that aren't even us, some that are the county and the court system.
Officer John Bartholomew was murdered in the 40th
WardI
received calls when I wasn't technically working and made sure I had to
run to let our neighbors know that an individual who was armed
escaped a hospital and was in the neighborhood for an hour before being
apprehended. There are a number of questions related to why that
situation occurred, and a number of different institutions that should be
questioned and investigated to find that out.
Okay.
But let's make it clear, the individual shouldn't have been on the street to begin
with.
And that isn't because of a piece of legislation, it's because of a judge.
It's in their name. Their job is to judge and make a call.
And if you've got enough of a track history that you shouldn't be on the street, a
judge should be able to say that. And avoiding
that decision, along with other ones, led to it.
And I just wanted to bring that up because enough people are mentioning the
officer.
It was horrifying in the moment to see what happened.
It was heartbreaking to see the families at the hospital.
I know we're all taking the time, and we have the services.
There's still an officer right now fighting for his life.
And we would not have these things happen if all of our systems were improved.
Which means,
and here's where I want to modify language,
as someone who came into council with the take that I had about changes that needed
to happen, I would often talk about bad cops.
I modify my language now. Officers do a difficult job, and there are a whole bunch
of people who shouldn't be officers to begin with,
and no one is pointing that out. It's not necessarily bad officers, it's people
shouldn't have the job. And there's not enough ways to make sure they're removed
from their positions when they're not doing their job properly.
That leads to a lack of trust. It leads to a lack of communication.
It leads to a lack of safety for all parties involved,
community as well as the police. So yeah, we have a lot of work to do,
and I think everyone here
cares enough to do the work. We may have different perspectives on it, but it is
incumbent upon this council to solve it.
So I'm happy to work with any of our colleagues with any perspectives to get
something right, and hope that future generations have less of these challenges.
I think Community Commission of Community Safety and Accountability has too many
communities in the acronym, so I wouldn't necessarily sign up for that.
But I do think if all of us together can figure out what public safety means
and accountability can look like, we can get a better Chicago, and everyone here
believes in it. And so I am very grateful.
I am elated to support both of you and look forward to your
formal appointment to City Council. Thank you very much, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman Vasquez. Alderman Sposato, did you have any questions or
comment?
Thank you, Chairman. Can you hear me okay?
We can hear you. Yes, sir.
I want to thank both of the young ladies for stepping up, Angelique and Anjanette.
I will admit I was a very hard no in the beginning.
This wasn't an easy decision for me, and not because of either one of you, but
basically because of my
not wanting this CC, as I call it, CCPSA.
It's nothing against Director Gross or either one of you.
I think we need to abolish this. I hear all different numbers what
we're spending on this, $4 million, $5 million, $6 million.
I think the money could be much better spent on something like
ShotSpotter.
I know our concern is about oversight on police, and once again, I will
give everybody my cheat sheet in alphabetical order on oversight on
police. And that's the AG, they have body cameras, consent decree,
COPA, DAC, DOJ, FBI, IAD,
IG, Illinois Torture Board, Police Board, State's Attorney,
and supervisors. This is the amount of oversight they have, excluding the
CCPSA.
So,
talking to my
district person that was part of the process, you
both came up very high in a redacted process, I will say.
Nobody knew who you were or where you were from. You both scored high.
You both did well in the interviews.
Angelique, I didn't have any problem with you.
Anjanette, I did have a little problem with you, and I talked to you about it.
You did tell me you found forgiveness in your heart over the
horrific accident that happened to you.
Had that been my wife, my daughters, my mother, my sister, I'd be one p****d off
individual.
I would ask
that you could find it in your heart someday to maybe go to the district and let
them know that you forgive them, and certainly the officer that was
fired, I would like to put the two of you together to let him know.
Like you say, once again, it was a terrible thing.
It was an accident, I know. It wasn't an on-purpose thing, but we
have to get better at this stuff.
So that's pretty much what I have to say.
My vote, I guess, is going to be based off of what my district councilors have
said, and you both scored very well.
Thanks for stepping up, but hopefully you're not in this position long.
Hopefully we can abolish the CCPSA.
Nothing against you, Director Gross, or either one of you. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman Sposato.
And I'm glad I was five minutes shorter than my colleague before me.
Thank you, Alderman Sposato. And Alderman Vasquez.
I just appreciate that our colleague admitted he's abolitionist.
Thank you very much.
All right. Are there any other questions and comments from any
committee members or non-committee members?
Okay.
Before we move forward,
and I forgot to do this a little earlier.
I want to recognize all of our district council members, as well as our
commissioners with CCPSA, for joining us today, and we certainly
appreciate your commitment to the city as well. So thank you for appearing.
With that, a roll call
vote was called. We will begin with item number one, which is the
appointment of Angelique Guzman as
Commissioner of Community Commission
for Public Safety and Accountability,
A2026-0024728.
Alderman Taliaferro votes aye.
Vice Chair Robinson?
Yes.
Alderman HallAlderman Hall?
Yes. Yes, yes.
Alderman Mitchell?
Alderwoman Lee?
Yes.
Alderman Curtis?
Aye.
Alderwoman Taylor?
Yes.
Alderman Mosley?
Yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris?
Alderman Irving?
Yeah.
Yeah, Alderman Irving votes yes.
Alderman Cardona?
Alderman Sposato?
Nick Sposato is a yes.
Alderwoman Nugent?
Yes.
Alderman Napolitano?
Alderman Knitzan?
Yes.
Alderman Gardner?
Aye.
Alderwoman Clay?
Alderman Mitchell, this is Alderman Mitchell, we're
voting roll call vote on item number one, the appointment of
Angelique Guzman.
Yes.
I'm sorry?
No.
Okay.
We have 13 ayes
and three nays. This matter passes.
Ms. Guzman, congratulations. This matter will be appointed
out at the next city council meeting.
And congratulations again. Thank you for your service.
Our next roll call vote will be with regard to item number two, the appointment of
Anjanette Young as Commissioner of the Community Commission
for Public Safety and Accountability.
Alderman Telefera is an aye.
Vice Chair Robinson?
Yes.
Alderman Hall?
Yes.
Alderman Mitchell?
Alderwoman Lee?
Yes.
Alderman Curtis?
Yes.
Alderwoman Taylor?
Yes.
Alderman Mosley?
Yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris?
Alderman Irving?
Yeah.
Alderman Irving votes aye.
Alderman Cardona?
Alderman Sposato?
Nick Sposato is a yes.
Alderwoman Nugent?
Alderman Napolitano?
Alderman Knitzan?
Yes.
Alderman Gardner?
Aye.
Alderwoman Clay?
We have 14 ayes and two nays. This matter
passes.
Again, Ms. Young, congratulations.
Thank you.
This matter be-
This
matter be, will be reported out as well at the next city council meeting.
All right, item number three,
resolution 2026-0024085,
is a call on the Chicago Police Department and the Department of Assets Information
and Services to rename the Third Police District
as Police Officer Darel C. Brandon Third
District Station.
Again, item number three is to rename the Third District Police
Station as the Police Officer Darel C.
Brandon Third District Station. Our sponsor
joins us today. Our sponsor is committee member Alderman Hall from
the Sixth Ward. Alderman Hall?
Well, first of all, again, thank you so much to each of my colleagues.
Officer Brandon, for those who do not know, is the first Black
woman to be killed in the line of duty.
Our ward, which also encompasses the Sixth District,
has lost three officers this year.
I mean, not this year, I'm sorry, in the last three years.
And this is not just a moment to remember her legacy-
Alderman Hall, if you can hold on just one second, please.
Okay.
If I could ask our guests to please, as you exit,
please keep the noise down so that we can continue with our meeting. Thank you.
If you want to have conversation, please step outside.
I apologize, Alderman Hall. Go ahead and continue.
No, I understand. Again, Officer Brandon, first woman, African
American, to be killed in the line of duty.
Her life is her legacy, and her sacrifice will be
forever remembered by the renaming of this police district station.
Our ward has seen, in the last three years, three officers die in the line of duty,
two of which have been female officers.
Officer Preston and Officer Martinez.
And so what we're here to do is to remember her legacy,
not just in her life being lost, but the fact that she had the courage
to wear the, what I call, the shining light on her
chest. And so we want to remember her light forevermore in our
district. Her husband, who also served and protect our city.
This is, again, a moment to remember not only her sacrifice, but her
service. And so I thank you all for both your
support, 49 of you who signed this resolution.
And also thank you all for the support so that we can always remember her.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Alderman Hall, and I certainly appreciate you bringing this matter
before the committee.
It is a difficult thing when the city of Chicago
loses an officer in the line of duty.
And so
although this one was long ago, in 1984, her
memory
and the service and the level of commitment is
never forgotten, and you're bringing this before the committee
to forever commemorate her service
to the city of Chicago is very welcomed by me.
And so I want to certainly appreciate it, and having served on the Chicago Police
Department for over 20 years, I thank you for bringing this,
recognizing that level of commitment that was an
ultimate sacrifice paid by Officer Brandon.
So I want to thank you so much for this.
And when you first told me about it, there was not even a question as to
whether or not this should be an honor
before this committee,
and one that the city now recognizes as well. So thank you.
Are there any further questions and comments?
Okay, move to pass by Alderwoman Lee. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed, nay. In opinion of the chairs, the ayes have it.
This matter passes and will be reported out at the next city council
meeting.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Alderman. There are no further matters before the committee.
Can I get a motion to adjourn?
So moved by Alderman Mosley. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
All those opposed, nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The Committee on Police and Fire is hereby
adjourned.