Page 30 - March 2022

Real Women Wear Badges
Taking Control
Officer Carolynn Crump is running for state rep because the
residents of her community are fed up with political failures
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n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
So many guns on the street. Too many guns on the street. And nobody seems to care. The mailings about gun control would come out around election time in the 6th Legislative District, which includes Englewood.
Chicago Police Officer Carolynn Crump received those mailings as a resident of the neighborhood. So many mailings that they would overrun her mailbox. But gun control was out of control.
“I didn’t see any change. In fact, there were more shoot- ings,” observed Crump, who added that one night she heard so many gunshots that it scared her dog into a frenzy. “So these are failed policies from these politicians. And if gun con- trol was their main target, how come they’re not coming to see the victims who have been shot? You never see them come around when officers are injured in the line of duty, but they say they’re still all about gun control.”
Crump does not hesitate to call out these lies from the elect- ed officials. And apparently she’s tired of the lies.
So Crump has decided to run for state representative in the 6th District. She is not the only resident of Englewood who has heard enough and had enough.
When doing the door-to-door to collect signatures on her petition to get on the ballot, she had a chance to talk with folks in Englewood, West Englewood, Canaryville, Back of the Yards and other neighborhoods who shared her perspective and disgust with the current representation.
“It was the same reflection that I felt and experienced,” Crump explained. “The first thing they’d say is, ‘I really don’t want to sign a petition, because I don’t see any change. I don’t even see the politicians coming out to fix these problems.’”
An expert in research and quantitative analysis with a Ph.D., Crump knows how to process such information. She was able to formulate an impactful response.
“They don’t have any respect for the community, and it’s al- ways a failure,” she noted. “So I said, ‘I’m feeling it, too. I live right down the street, and I’m tired of ducking and dodging gunshots.’”
She also heard significant support for the police as she made the rounds. And very few people are the police quite like Dr. Crump. She is a third-generation copper with Chicago Police Officers on both her mother’s and father’s sides of the family. Numerous family members on the job include her grandfa- ther, father, uncles and cousins — 28 family members in total. Her grandmother served as a CPD crossing guard.
Her career on the job has taken Crump to Unit 125 Data Sys- tems because she felt that she could be an asset to implement changes in technology. She was one of the two officers who
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helped develop automated police report applications (CLEAR, E-Track, Automated Arrests, Mugshot, etc.) with the computer programming stakeholders. She also used her help desk expe- riences to cultivate change in technology by installing com- puters and printers in police districts and facilities through- out the city.
Crump has also been instrumental in research to develop other technology implementation, including the Performance Evaluations System (PES), Performance Recognition (PRS), OEMC POD Camera Truck Operator, Strategic Decision Sup- port Center (SDSC), Shot Spotter and the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP).
Crump never wanted to get involved in politics. Approxi- mately 20 years ago, a friend on the job with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office suggested she run for alderman. But Crump believed Chicago Police Officers should get involved with pol- itics.