THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

As alderman, Allen has focused on issues such as public safety and housing over the years. He feels that the State's Attorney's office is in a 'rut,' and wants to shift its focus on ridding the streets of guns and crime.

Prior to his work in the city council, Allen was a trial attorney for 17 years, and worked within the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as a public defender during Mayor Richard M. Daley's tenure.

Windy City Times: What kinds of changes would you like to make to the State's Attorney's Office? Tackling corruption has been a big issue in the debates. If elected, what would you tackle first?

Tom Allen: To me, corruption is a nice buzzword—it has a lot of sex appeal to it, and we definitely have to do more. We haven't done anything. More is a step above nothing. As alderman for 15 years of the Northwest Side, I've always pursued an agenda, first and foremost, of keeping neighborhoods safe, keeping families safe and I think, from what I've seen in this office, we have to do a better job of protecting the men and women and families of Cook County against violence. There's no accountability or responsibility for going after the guns that are on the street that kids are getting their hands on and passing around. It used to be when someone committed a crime they would dispose of it—toss it in the Chicago River. If that was happening now, the river would be dammed up because there would be so many guns going in there. What is happening is this: these illegal guns are being re-circulated to the gang bangers and the kids, and we're not going after that stuff.

WCT: You're saying we're not going after the source?

TA: That's it. They [ the State's Attorney's Office ] have become a factory to process criminal offenses after they've occurred, namely the homicide cases. What I think we have to do is get out and be proactive and get on the front end of this. I have a plan to do that.

… I was there [ the Cook County State's Attorney's Office ] when Mayor Daley was there. I was a public defender for 10 years. I defended every case imaginable, and that was during Daley's tenure. He was very aggressive. He created all kinds of units, he went after guys and he publicized it. I haven't seen this administration doing that. They have a gang unit, which the mayor created. They have a narcotics unit. They have a financial crimes unit. They have all kinds of units.

I would create an illegal gun-trafficking unit. Here's the focus of this thing. When gun arrests are made, and there are thousands of them on an annual basis in Cook County, you don't just prosecute the case and dispose of the gun. You find out where the gun came from. Ask the guy, 'Where did you get the gun?' If they arrest a drug dealer, they always go after the source. ...You try to go up the chain, the purpose being to cut off the supply to the user. Well, the kid on the street knows where to get the gun. The gangbangers are trading them off, passing them off. … They are just re-circulating these things. I would put together a task force … and everybody would focus on the guns that are out there. We could go across jurisdictions, because there are a couple of states that have very weak gun laws. Two of them, where a lot of our guns come from, are Indiana and Mississippi. … Every 15-year-old kid in a neighborhood in Cook County knows where to get a gun. Why can't we find out where they are coming from?

WCT: Why do you think that is? Is it a lack of money? A lack of political will?

TA: Well, it's common sense to me. During my career as a public servant, I never take no for an answer from government. Government tends to say this can't be done because of resources or whatever, and sometimes the thing is staring at you right in the face, and this, to me, is pretty obvious. The other reason why it hasn't been done is maybe people in the neighborhoods are afraid to tell people where the guns are. I think we can kind of minimize that or give them a safe haven by putting hotline together, an anonymous hotline. … We've got to get out there and start getting these guns. A lot of my opponents are talking about new gun laws. Okay, how about starting first with the guns right under our nose? I'm in favor of new gun laws to prevent Virginia Tech stuff, but 400-something in Chicago and 500-something in Cook County are being murdered on an annual basis. How many are being murdered with AK-47s? Not too many. I think it's very important issue, because you have to get the guns off the streets. … I think, to me, that's the most important issue, and the one change I'd make as soon as I get to office.

Another change that I think is missing … relates to sex offenders—child sex offenders. I would track these guys both on the Internet and the streets. There are people who haven't registered. In 1995, when I was an alderman, I had a police officer call me and tell me a couple of sex offenders are living right across the street from a couple of schools. I was shocked. First of all, how does he have that information, and we don't? I drafted an ordinance 10 or 12 years ago that requires child sex offenders in Chicago to register. … There's probably 20 percent of these guys that are out there that haven't registered and we don't know where they're at. Recently, there's a new ordinance in city council to implement this new technology where we can track them with GPS monitors. … The technology is so simple, and at that point, we'll know where they are at 100 percent of the time, not just 70 percent of the time.

Another important issue to me is the lack of diversity in this office. Seven percent minority or African-American—that's ridiculous. I think this office should reflect the whole diverse population we have in Cook County—African-American, Asian, Latino, the gay and lesbian community. It should reflect that. I work with the city and the mayor. To me, his style is very similar to mine. He's practical. When he got in there, the minority levels were weak. What does he do? He cranks it up. How does he do it? Well, there are all these rules and regulations. You have to take exams, you have to do this. Forget it, just do it, and he does it. He's a no nonsense guy. He doesn't worry about all the fine details, he just does it. That's pretty much the kind of style I am. I definitely admire what he did in the State's Attorney's Office on a lot of the issues. He's passionate, he's energetic, and he never stops and gives up, which is part of my personality. … I've always been a fighter. I've always love to fight for people and to help people who are underdogs, people who don't have someone in their corner—seniors, young people, anybody who is being picked on or abused.

WCT: That's really important because the gay and lesbian community is often the underdog.

TA: I come from a big family. I have eight brothers and sisters and I have 26 or 28 nieces and nephews. … I have two or three of my nieces and nephews who are gay. To me, we live in a world where anybody who picks on anybody for any reason, you know, it gets under my skin. If I have the resources and the ability, I go after them big time. As an alderman, they come to me with problems. I represent 60,000 people. If somebody is intentionally abusing somebody, I go after them. I'm in housing court all the time, and every judge always says I'm the only alderman they see here. But I know the court system, and you have to bring your witnesses and push the court system, or it doesn't work.

… I enjoy fighting fights for people who are being abused or picked on. That gets my blood going.

WCT: Two of your opponents are higher-ups within the State's Attorney's Office. What do you think you can bring to the table that you think they aren't bringing?

TA: Let me tell you something. Twenty-one of 22 years in the State's Attorney's Office, running it—because that is what they say in their campaign. Where have you been? Where have you been when [ former Chicago Police Detective Jon ] Burge tortured people in the '80s? I was there in the '80s and I had a number of cases against Burge. I tried everything I could.

Here's the deal: They did nothing. Last year the city council paid $20 million—it made me sick to my stomach to vote for it—to settle four Burge cases. I think the taxpayers deserve an explanation from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as to why they never lifted a finger to try to prosecute him. Now, their reasoning is the statute of limitations. That's a typical response by someone who is in charge. Believe me, that office wears a jacket for Jon Burge sitting in Florida doing nothing but collecting a check. If I'm elected, I'll go after him. I don't buy the excuses that we can't do it. I've proven in my public service that you can if you rack up your energy and go after it. I'm going after it. Those guys, there were there. They want to take all the credit for all the prosecutions they did, but how about the one case they didn't do, which is the poster child for abuse and torture? That is the one thing that has driven a wench between the citizens of Cook County and law enforcement. All these good police officers, men and women, are being disrespected because of what Burge did. Well, had they taken him out and prosecuted him and imprisoned him, now then the citizens would have some faith in our government. But, they haven't. The question I put to them: Why don't you try? No subpoena, no grand jury trial. Believe me, there are things you can do, I've been a lawyer for over 30 years.

… Where there's a will, there's a way. My other opponents, well, the citizens of Cook County deserve a State's Attorney that hasn't been compromised. … They deserve a State's Attorney who hasn't been a lobbyist for years. I'm a public servant, not a corporate lap dog. Larry Suffredin has been a lobbyist his whole career. We also deserve a State's Attorney that hasn't been compromised personally and financially. … I would never compromise my principals, and they deserve a State's Attorney who has not been compromised. We're all lawyers, but the reality is that I would never compromise my fight for the citizens of Cook County. I'm 55 years old, and I have a long record. No one can pay me to take a position. My mother and father taught me that. You are who you run with, and who you associate yourself with.

… The voters of Cook County have a choice. To me, it's about who you are as a person, who you associate yourself with, how you've conducted yourself and if you are a fighter and know how to fight. … I think there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done in office that's not being done. They are in a rut, and when you're in a rut, you need change.