In the February 28 municipal election, more than 100 candidates are running for the city’s newly created Police District Councils (PDCs). The councils were created by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance, which came after decades of organizing, and are the first time Chicago will have elected civilian oversight of the police. Each of Chicago’s 22 Police Districts will have a three-member PDC, and the ordinance also created a citywide Community Commission for Public Safety Administration (CCPSA).
The candidates in these races have varying backgrounds. More than half of the candidates worked with the ECPS coalition that pushed to get the ordinance passed, and support greater accountability for police. Many of them are survivors of police brutality or have family members who were brutalized or killed by police. About a dozen candidates are ex-cops or are backed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which spent at least $25,000 on the race.
Most of the candidates are middle-aged or older. A few, however, are younger than 25. On February 1, the Reader interviewed four of the youngest candidates at the 25th Ward IPO office in Pilsen. William “The Kid” Guerrero, a candidate in the 12th District, is 21 years old. Fourteenth District candidate Ashley Vargas is 23, as is Anthony Michael Tamez, who is running in the 17th. Saul Arellano is a 24-year-old candidate in the 25th District.
All four agreed that policing disproportionately impacts youth, and Black and Brown youth in particular. They pointed to the city’s gang database, the prevalence of police in public schools, particularly in schools that predominantly serve Black and Brown neighborhoods, and the curfew Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed on Millenium Park as examples. All four also discussed the importance of having youth in public office and the perspectives they can bring that older candidates may not be able to.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daley: Why is it important to have youth representation on the PDCs and in government generally?
Guerrero: There’s a lack of representation in government, and we barely see young people have a say. Oftentimes we’re limited: we don’t know where the table is at, or if we do, we have to demand to be at the table. The PDC position is unique. It’s a great start to our political careers, and a way to understand how we can hold the police and public servants and elected officials accountable. We’re making sure the young people have a say in what public safety should look like.
Arellano: We’ve done a lot of public service. For many years, we’ve worked with organizations fighting for immigration rights, for housing rights, for affordable housing and for different things. Our movement right now, what we’re doing in the 25th District, is a youth-led movement. There were three of us who said we needed to do something, and I was the one who was like, “I need to run.” I’ve worked at the Boys and Girls Club, and I’ve learned how to love kids and how successful they can become, but they need mentorship and guidance, they need programs that are going to be there to help them. When you truly invest in those kids, they will be successful. And that’s why I decided to run.
We always get told the youth are the future. Well, we’re telling people “we are the now, we are here, and it’s time for us.” Our time is now. We’re gonna put ourselves out there and keep doing the work, because we believe our families must be invested in, and we want our communities to be invested in.
Vargas: I grew up in Logan Square, and in high school I had the privilege to see Carlos Ramirez-Rosa govern at a very young age himself. I saw how one young person can create a whole progressive movement in the northwest side and on the City Council. I’m very inspired by that. I was recruited to run by Carlos. I’m glad I’m running, because I feel this is a moment in time where the people are taking over Chicago. We’re here, we’re present, and we’re taking over Chicago.
Tamez: When we look at the people who are most affected by police brutality or police violence, it’s mainly youth. It’s the younger generation. It’s Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. You know, I graduated from Von Steuben in 2018. My school had little-to-no police presence when we would get released at the end of the day. But Roosevelt, which was a few blocks away from my school, was lined with police officers. They would have kids up against the building, sitting on the sidewalk, up against the police cars. And it was very telling to me, just how the police treat children who go to a different school.
Saul Arellano (left) and Ashley Vargas Credit: Jim Daley
What unique perspectives can people younger than 25 bring to the Police District Councils?
Vargas: I think that we bring passion. I’m a product of the Chicago Public Schools. High school was tough for me. We had cops in the schools; I would see my friends, 14-year-old boys, be tackled by cops, 40-year-old men, just because they smelled like weed or had red eyes. That’s not the solution, fighting 14-year-old kids with violence. Through ECPS we can fight institutional racism, and hence internalized racism. Every single day, a young Black kid, a young Mexican kid walks through those [school] doors, they’re taking off their shoes, taking off their backpack [to be searched], and it’s all very militarized. It feels like we’re being attacked, and every single day we’re internalizing this and normalizing this behavior towards us.
So, I would love to see cops out of schools, and instead of investing in police to be in schools, we need to be taking care of our kids. We need to invest in counselors and librarians and nurses and different programs, just not the police, because that’s not the answer.
Arellano: And from a young age, Black and Brown children have been criminalized. From the beginning, if they make a mistake, they’re penalized so harshly. And their white counterparts don’t receive such punishment. We just want to be treated fairly, and we just want to be treated like we’re humans, and we deserve a second chance.
Guerrero: I’ve said time and time again, there’s gotta be someone young in this position. When they announced the candidates in the 12th Police District, I didn’t see no one young running. When [candidates] claimed they were doing the work and supporting young people, I was like “Hm, I’ve never seen you guys. I’ve never seen you guys at all here.” So, it’s about putting the work in before you take a position. Personally, I’m tired of all these elected officials and their false promises. I think this position can serve accountability. And we bring so much energy and passion to this. Not only that, we’re not corrupt. I think the older generations can value and see that, and be like, “You know what? Let’s give these kids a chance.”
Tamez: We need to stop criminalizing youth. We need to bring them to the table and make sure they’re able to talk about their experiences. When you’re going to a school that is in a police state constantly, you’re going to feel a type of way, and maybe even feel scorned. I don’t think that’s how we should treat our youth. We should make sure that our schools are safe spaces. That is why we need youth in district councils, but youth in government as well. We see a generation coming up and leading movements, and we see them coming into their positions, and we need to make sure we’re supporting them.