Chicago City Wire

Lt. John Garrido III, formerly an officer with the Chicago Police Department’s 16th District, joined Chicago’s Morning Answer to discuss public safety in the light of the spring race for Chicago mayor.

Garrido is opposing the mayoral runs of U.S. Rep. Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) and incumbent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Garrido told Chicago’s Morning Answer hosts Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson that Lightfoot has refused to move officers from non-patrol units.

“We've got 275 officers down at the Chicago Police Academy," he said. "We've got several hundred over in the narcotics division. We've got Mayor Lightfoot's detail, her protection detail, which is a little more than four times the amount that Rahm and Daley had. She's got over 110 police officers working in her protection detail.

“So these are officers where these are supposed to be support units. I don't know about hers, but the rest of them are support units for the patrol division. So when we have an overall reduction in manpower, which is happening nationwide, but especially here in Chicago, when you have an overall reduction in manpower, you need to spin out those units and beef up the patrol division.

“We've got a superintendent that probably should have been promoted past the rank of patrolman who has no idea what he's doing and refuses to do that. So it makes it unsafe for our officers. It's unsafe for our community. And I've called it a train wreck. This entire administration has been nothing but a train wreck.

“(Chuy Garcia) would be no better than Lightfoot. He would be terrible for our community. I don't know if he still is hanging out with gangs and gangbangers, but Lightfoot would be the worst. We already know that. And I think Chuy would be just as bad.”

He called out Garcia for having ties to “Latin Kings gangbangers.”

“There's a picture out there," he said. "He marched with a couple of Latin Kings. It all came up the last time when he ran against Rahm. There's something just floating out there and an article on it and identifying who the guys in the picture with,” Garrido said.

“They brought that up before when (Garcia) ran against Rahm they came down on one of their reporters, Phil Ponce, and it was. They beat up on him for bringing up family members, you know, but at the end of the day, I mean it, it sometimes can give you an idea of who the candidate is as far as you know, how he raises their kids.”

Garrido said the current police superintendent is failing.  

“Right now, patrol division is starved for officers," he said. "These officers are exhausted. They're working their days off on a regular basis. So we've got to deal with the superintendent canceling days off as we go into the summer months right now. But you're going through the winter months. There're officers that are just volunteering to work their days off just so we can man the beat cars on a daily basis.”

Garrido said of the candidates for mayor he feels only two can solve the public safety issues currently being experienced.

“The two best are definitely, in my opinion, Willie Wilson and Paul Vallas," he said. "The rest of the candidates are definitely all defund the police or they've had a history of stepping up and attacking the police."

Garrido said there has been a stark change in the perception of policing since the early '90s.

“I started in January of 1991, and it's incredible just how much has changed since then," he said. "The mayors, first of all, just going back to even (Richard M.) Daley while there would be, you know, obviously some input and stuff as far as to how the department was run. For the most part, he actually let the department run itself and the office was different than himself. And then as time went on and now you've got a micromanager in Mayor Lightfoot.

“The one thing that Daley and Rahm (Emmanuel) knew is it's not about race. Everybody wants to make everything about race. It's about containing the violence. You want to do what you can to prevent crime, but you have to contain it because at the same time, we have to pay our bills here. Our tax base is downtown Chicago. Mayor Lightfoot let that go. It's a free for all down there. The crime has just spread throughout the city because, between her and Kim Foxx, it goes unchecked."

Garrido previously went after Lightfoot for defaming police officers who took refuge in former Congressman Bobby Rush’s office after some of the worst Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.

A press conference was held in June 2020 in which Lightfoot showed images of police officers holding out during riots in the office of Rush.

"These individuals did indeed abandon their responsibilities and their obligation and their oath to serve and protect," Lightfoot said. "We should all be disgusted.”

The accompanying video showed the police officers resting in Rush’s office, located at 54th Street and Wentworth Avenue. Rush reported the office was vandalized during the looting but saw that the office had been used as a makeshift headquarters for officers during the looting.

"None of that was true and every single person in that press conference lied about it,” Garrido said. "[Lightfoot] was quick to throw the officers under the bus to distract from her failed policies.” 

He also warned the public about “Garcia who was quick to jump on that bus to make the officers look bad.” He said it was all a false narrative: “Our Chicago police officers who put their lives on the line that weekend and worked their tails off but were painted as cowards.”

Superintendent David Brown, 1st Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio, and Chief of Patrol Fred Waller are the supervisors who, Garrido said, "stepped up to help the mayor peddle her lies."

Garrido retired as a lieutenant after 32 years of service in 2022 where he was lauded.

“He’s a true leader and genuinely cares about the officers,” District Capt. Mike Barz told Nadig Newspapers. “In the 16th District, no officer has done more than John Garrido. He’s always representing us in a positive light. … This is a big loss for the 16th District.”

Garrido has run twice for alderman, narrowly losing each contest. His father was also a Chicago police officer.

He and his wife, Anna, run the Garrido Stray Rescue Foundation

Proft promoted the interview on Twitter.

“Retired CPD Lt. @JohnGarridoIII joined us on @MorningAnswer to discuss not only the problem of too few police but also the misallocation of existing police. What he had to say should inform Chicagoans' vote for mayor on 2/28,” Proft posted on Twitter.