Meet Jenny

Jenny is a District Council Member in Chicago’s 19th Police District and a leader in the effort to build a more effective, responsive, and community-centered public safety system for Chicago. Her work is grounded in a simple principle: communities are safer when we use the right resources for the right challenges and ensure that every person responding to a call has the training and expertise needed to help.

Jenny is a strong advocate for expanding alternative response in Chicago. She is helping lead efforts to expand the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program and establish civilian alternative response for parking enforcement. She believes Chicagoans are better served by an emergency response system that can match the right responder to the needs of each call—from mental health professionals to civilian parking enforcement officers and other trained responders. Expanding these options can help ensure residents receive the right support at the right time while allowing police officers to focus their time and resources on the responsibilities for which they are uniquely trained, making better use of Chicago’s public safety resources.

She also advocates for more effective use of police resources, including greater civilianization of the Chicago Police Department and implementation of the recommendations of the Workforce Allocation Study. She believes transparency and accountability around that implementation are essential to ensuring that Chicago’s limited public safety resources are being used where they can have the greatest impact.

Jenny is committed to ensuring that community voices help shape how Chicago approaches public safety and policing. Through her work on the Community Policing Working Group, District Strategic Plan Working Group and the Restorative Justice Community Court Working Group, she advocates for approaches that respond to community concerns, strengthen relationships between residents and police, and connect people with the resources and support they need. She believes effective public safety must go beyond responding to problems after they occur. We must listen to communities, invest in proactive solutions, and create systems that address the underlying challenges that affect safety.

Across her work, Jenny brings a collaborative and practical approach to public safety. She listens to residents, works across organizations and government agencies, and looks for common-sense solutions that make neighborhoods safer while also making police officers’ jobs more effective. She believes Chicago can build a stronger public safety system by moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and creating a system in which police, civilian professionals, community organizations, and residents each play the role they are best positioned to play.