Brookins, meanwhile, is promising to crack down on bad cops and corrupt politicians–not exactly the platform advanced by recent state’s attorneys who are forces in the Democratic Party. “The problem with prosecuting or not prosecuting corrupt cops is that when they’re out there, they corrupt the whole system,” he said. “I have people come to me in the office after they go to CAPS meetings that they didn’t want to give the police this information because they believe they’re telling the dope dealers they got this information from Miss Smith and Mrs. Jones. Witnesses are reluctant to come forward, victims are reluctant to come forward, and we’ve got to send a strong signal out there that the system is out there to protect you.
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Smith irked the mayor when he shepherded the indoor smoking ban through the council, and again during the big-box debate. During budget discussions last fall he ripped corruption in the Daley administration but voted for the mayor’s spending plan anyway, moving the mayor to say he’d make sure Smith could take his concerns straight to the inspector general the next day.
