Lake County Gazette

Is defunding the Chicago Police Department an idea worth exploring?

No, says Kathy Myalls.

Does it have any real chance of success?

Kathy Myalls | Ballotpedia

“I sure as hell hope not,” said Myalls, an attorney for Interpublic Group of Companies and a political activist who has sought office several times.

In light of civil unrest across the country in the last two weeks following the death of Floyd George at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, there have been calls to defund or even dismantle police departments.

While protesters have advocated for the end or severe reforms of police departments, politicians have joined the discussion. It has become a topic in Minneapolis, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.

A rally in Chicago Friday called for using the city's $1 billion annual police budget to pay for mental health clinics, personal protective equipment for health-care workers, COVID-19 testing and rent relief. Speakers at Union Park said the public was tired of police misconduct and ready to try another form of law enforcement.

They led a march through the Near West Side and West Town, escorted by Chicago police officers. It was a peaceful event.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to retain the Police Department but institute reforms. She served as president of a task force that studied the department in 2015-16 before becoming mayor.

“Since the onset of these events, Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent [David] Brown have been unequivocally resolute that police misconduct of any kind will not be tolerated and those found committing wrongdoing will be held fully accountable,” her office said in a statement. “Just as the overwhelming majority of protests remained peaceful this week, the vast majority of officers followed their training and supervisor direction during these difficult times. Nonetheless, we will continue to vigorously investigate all reports of excessive force arising from this week.”

Myalls was asked what Chicago would be like with a greatly reduced police department.

“Are you serious with that question? Increased recidivism, increased crime, chaos,” she told Lake County Gazette.

That doesn’t mean Myalls disapproves of reforms. Not all of them involve the police.

“Training on inherent bias might be helpful,” she said. “But the biggest help would be cleaning up communities of color, and cleaning out criminals who prey on those communities. In 93 percent of black homicides, the killer was also black.”

Myalls, a Wilmette resident, said while inner cities have major problems, the story needs to be told correctly.

“The real problem, the real tragedy, the real outrage, is that this is ignored regularly by the media and by the mobs that are gathered now to protest a single death,” she said. “Mothers are watching their babies get shot on their front porches. Drugs run rampant. If we reduced black-on-black homicide, the police would have need to interact less with communities of color, and the nine unarmed black men (and 18 unarmed white men) killed last year might reduce to zero.”

Myalls ran for state representative in 2014, and also was a candidate for New Trier Township trustee. She was elected as the New Trier Township Republican committeeperson in 2018 for a four-year term.

Her experiences with the Chicago Police Department were without consequence.

“They’ve all been either traffic tickets or parades, and they’ve been respectful and pleasant,” Myalls said. “But then, so was I.”