15th District Council Agenda

Carmelita Earls – Chair

A retired Chicago Fire Department chief, Earls had a 32-year career and commanded the Fire Academy; in that role she worked with CPD, which she says “enhanced our on-scene rapport.” Her duties were to “formulate, implement, and enforce policies of public safety.” In 2021, she requested a demotion because she had to place two firefighters on no-pay status for vaccine noncompliance. Earls has been a block club captain, precinct captain, aldermanic candidate, ward committeeperson, and president of the Women’s Council of Community Intercession.

Chicago Firefighters Local 2, members of the Women Council of Community Intercession, and the Fraternal Order of Police have endorsed.

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should stay about the same.

• CPD reform: The police need training and some reform.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Communicating with the department on behalf of the community

Other: Serve as a liaison on behalf of both parties! While ensuring accountability!

Why are you running for Police District Council?

In today’s climate of Community Policing, we must resolve our disputes in order to bridge our cultural differences! Situation Awareness will allow each call to be mitigated on its own merit, therefore the public can be heard without escalation! I have witnessed the public and police behavior [without] any kind of Conflict of Resolution chances. With irreparable result!

As a District Council member, I bring Institutional Knowledge to the table, the knowledge allows for each situation to be view as an opportunity to crest a collaborative solution. Instead of spending the majority of our energy on the problem! I’m excited to act as 1/3 of the Bridge Assembly!

Karen Winters – Nominating Committee

An administrative coordinator United Congress for Community and Religious Organizations, and an Organizing & Policy Team member for the Community Renewal Society, Winters became active in police reform efforts after CPD shot and killed her 16-year-old great-nephew in 2016. She founded the 411 Movement for Pierre Loury and has worked with Justice For Families, the Pozen Human Rights Lab, and the Chicago Justice Torture Center. She is a member of the NAACP Westside Chapter and the founder of Village Leaders Joint Block Club.

Winters co-chaired Mayor Lightfoot’s Use of Force Working Group, which convinced CPD to begin requiring officers to use de-escalation techniques before using force.

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.

• CPD reform: The police need significant reform.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Establishing civilian control of the police*

Communicating with the department on behalf of the community

*More than control, I chose to say oversight. It all relates to communication. Each side needs to be able to understand feelings, thoughts and be willing to make necessary adjustments to help ensure that we live, work, and play in the safest neighborhoods possible. This has to be a collaborative effort. I would like to sum this up with a quote by John F. Kennedy: “So let us begin anew-remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems untie us instead of belaboring those problem which divide us.”

Why are you running for Police District Council?

It has been a very teachable experience serving as a Coalition Member with the Chicago Consent Decree Coalition, and I feel this historic work has conditioned me to serve on the more local community level.

I have unique insight into what it takes to engage with the city and CPD and this expertise will have me work with community members and help to ensure that there voices are heard, that some ideas can be implemented in a hope to build public confidence between our police department and the communities they are serving.

My family has been is the 15th District since 1967 and I am just carrying on the legacy that began with my mother, who was a community activist and organizer. I love my neighbor and I deserve the chance to represent us. The police need significant reform.

Deondre Rutues – Community Engagement

A community organizer and engagement specialist for NYU’s Policing Project, Rutues helped launch its Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative and leads its outreach efforts in the 11th, 15th, and 25th Districts. He says his role “is to build and repair the relationship between the Chicago police and the communities they serve” via monthly meetings between CPD and residents and by locating resources to assist public safety efforts.

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.

• CPD reform: The police need training and some reform.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Other: “To educate, inform and organize the community around police accountability. This entails policy and procedures, laws, and practices that determine how Chicago Police interact with the community. A well educated, informed and organized community will be able to make the best recommendations for the policies that will determine how Chicago Police interacts with the communities they serve. ”

Why are you running for Police District Council?

I’m running because I have had negative and positive experiences when engaging with the Chicago Police. It is as paramount to hold the Chicago Police accountable as it is to work to build relationships between them and the communities they serve. I will continue to advocate for the community by enforcing the powers of the District Council upon those officers and the systems they promote that mistreat the community in any way. Additionally, I will be a bridge to the officers and the systems they promote that want to work in unison with the community to enhance public safety.

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#TogetherWeCan.