Cook GOP candidates nix National Guard in Chicago

Republican candidates for Cook County president and sheriff proposed Thursday using the sheriff's police rather than the National Guard to quell violence in Chicago.

Earlier this week, Chicago Democratic state Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford proposed calling in the National Guard to deal with rampant violence in Chicago neighborhoods.

"I know their hearts are in the right place," said Wilmette's Roger Keats, GOP nominee for Cook County Board president, but "this is not a military function."

GOP sheriff candidate Frederick Collins, a third-generation Chicago cop and a veteran of almost 20 years on the force, recommended assigning 150 Cook County Sheriff's Police to Chicago as "backup officers," he said, "rather than having an army running through our neighborhoods."

Jimmy Lee Tillman II, of Chicago, Republican candidate for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, echoed that, saying black neighborhoods would not welcome a military presence. "The African-American community are not enemy combatants," he added.

Keats, a retired lieutenant colonel in the military reserve, said the National Guard was ill-trained to do police work and was already overextended with deployments overseas to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Collins said the sheriff's police are better suited to the task. "When you put boots on the ground and you work with the community and you participate with the community, you build a strong relationship that makes a community much better," Collins added. "These backup officers, the Cook County Sheriff's Police, would be a great addition."

He added that he believes the sheriff's police are currently "underutilized," an idea his opponent, incumbent Democratic Sheriff Tom Dart, took issue with.

"One of our functions is assisting other agencies, and we are asked to do it ever day," Dart responded. "We assist Chicago and more than 100 other departments whenever asked. ... We're more than happy to respond to those types of requests from mayors and police chiefs, but we generally don't take requests from political candidates."

Keats said he was not concerned about alienating the GOP's traditional base in the suburbs, where many feel the bulk of county resources are already devoted to Chicago. "You talk to suburban voters, most of them recognize when you have this kind of violence, this kind of problem, we're all in this together," he said. "We need to solidify the county. We need to solidify all the parts of the county."

Both Keats and Collins said security was key to needed economic development and vice versa. "We need economic growth in these communities," Keats said.

"Once the ground is safe, we have the foundation and the platform to build on," Collins added.

Keats is running against Democratic Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago's Tom Tresser of the Green Party in the November general election.