Better than Monday night Football: SA candidate Alvarez grilled on Cable and now streaming on YouTube.
Jeff Berkowitz: And, so when Brookins says if the State’s Attorney’s office screwed up…. the two top people there [under Devine], Milan and Alvarez—they have to take a hit as well; you’re saying Brookins is wrong?
Anita Alvarez: Yes, I think he is wrong. Because, I don’t understand why I should be taking a hit for something that happened years ago before I even came into the office and not only that, now we have safeguards in place so that something like that [torture of accused] wouldn’t happen…we have tried police officers, we have charged police officers and I am the only one in this race who can stand up there and say I have tried and convicted police officers.
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Jeff Berkowitz: [Twenty-eight] Chicago aldermen have filed a lawsuit; they want to get access to those individuals, to the names [of the 662 police who have received ten or more complaints].
Anita Alvarez: To the names.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, they can exercise oversight, so they can know what’s going on.
Anita Alvarez: The aldermen are going to exercise oversight?
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Jeff Berkowitz: They provide a check. That’s what this country is all about. We don’t trust the Executive, we don’t trust the Judiciary, and we don’t trust the Congress. We try to have checks and balances, right…Shouldn’t the City Council have oversight as to what is going on in the police department...
Anita Alvarez: It is checks and balances, but we are trained, we are prosecutors and we have investigators assigned to our office. So, we are trained to look into these kinds of matters. I am not saying we are—
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Tonight's City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs (8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV) features Cook County, IL State's Attorney Candidate Anita Alvarez. Alvarez is Dick Devine's (the current State's Attorney) Chief Deputy, meaning Alvarez shares oversight responsibility for almost 900 attorneys and about six hundred support staff with her immediate boss, First Ass't Bob Milan, and she deals with budget and other Leadership and administrative issues in the State's Atttorney office. She is running in a tough six candidate Democratic Primary.
The show with Anita Alvarez also airs at 7:30 pm tonight [Dec. 17] on Aurora Community Television on Comcast Cable Ch. 10 in Aurora and some surrounding areas. That is, the Aurora station reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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Next Monday night's "Public Affairs," show in Chicago (8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV) features Ald. Tom Allen, another candidate for State's Attorney in the Democratic Primary.
8th CD Republican Primary candidate Kirk Morris (Gurnee) is the featured guest on this week's Suburban edition of Public Affairs. This is the second appearance of Morris on Public Affairs.
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Chief Deputy Alvarez debates and discusses with show host and Executive Legal Recruiter Jeff Berkowitz a broad range of State's Attorney public policy issues. Go here for a description of the topics discussed on tonight's show, a partial transcript of the show and more about Chief Deputy Alvarez.
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You may also now watch the show with State's Attorney Democratic Primary candidate Alvarez and soon this week's suburban edition of Public Affairs show with 8th CD Republican Primary candidate Kirk Morris, along with other recently posted shows, including State's Attorney Candidates First Ass't Milan, Ald. Allen, Comm. Suffredin and Ald. Brookins; Rep. Hamos (D-Evanston), 14th CD Republican Primary candidates Sen. Lauzen and Jim Oberweis, former candidate Mayor Burns and 14th CD Democratic Primary Candidates Jotham Stein and John Laesch on your computer at PublicAffairsTV.com. [For all of the shows on the Public Affairs podcast page, other than Alvarez and Oberweis , please click the Archives icon to bring up those shows].
In addition to those shows, prior shows on the "Public Affairs," podcast page feature Presidential candidates Obama, Giuliani, Richardson, McCain and Cox, and many other pols, including Obama-Bean in April, 2006, Congresswoman Bean in January, 2006 and Congresswoman Schakowsky in October, 2005 and opinion makers. You may also watch these "Public Affairs," shows and others at www.itunes.com
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Having trouble watching the 14th CD Democratic and Republican Primary candidates listed above and the Alvarez,Milan, Brookins, Suffredin and Allen quintet on the Public Affairs podcast page or at Itunes.com? Not to worry, you can now go here to watch them all on YouTube.com as well other Public Affairs shows, e.g., our extended interview with Presidential candidate Gov. Bill Richardson. This TV show host has been told that almost anybody who has a computer should be able to access Youtube, so no longer will you have a technical excuse for not watching Public Affairs, as all of our shows, going forward, and many prior ones, will be posted on YouTube.com.
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The show with Anita Alvarez was recorded on December 9, 2007
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A partial transcipt of the show with Candidate Alvarez is included directly, below.
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Are Alvarez and Milan joined at the hip to Daley and Devine?
Jeff Berkowitz: This is what people are saying about you and [First Ass’t] Bob Milan because if Daley didn’t do the right thing [on torture] as State’s attorney, and if Devine didn’t do the right thing [as Daley’s First Ass’t], you and Bob Milan…are tied at the hip to Devine at least, if not to Daley. You can’t ask for the support of that guy and tout that you are close to Devine and close to the office, and then say, “I don’t really know what he did [on torture].
Anita Alvarez, Chief Deputy to Dick Devine and State’s Attorney of Cook County candidate, Democratic Party: I am not joined at the hip with Mayor Daley and—
Jeff Berkowitz: Devine, you joined at—would you like the endorsement of Dick Devine.
Anita Alvarez: Well, you know Dick Devine is in a position where he has his two top deputies [Milan and Alvarez] running against each other, so he has remained—
Jeff Berkowitz: So, you don’t think he will endorse?
Anita Alvarez: No, he is remaining neutral and I think that is probably the best thing for him to do. But, I am not joined at the hip with the Mayor—
Jeff Berkowitz: But, are you joined at the hip with Dick Devine?
Anita Alvarez: No, I am not joined at the hip with Dick Devine.
Jeff Berkowitz: And, so when Brookins says if the State’s Attorney’s office screwed up…. the two top people there, Milan and Alvarez—they have to take a hit as well; you’re saying Brookins is wrong?
Anita Alvarez: Yes, I think he is wrong. Because, I don’t understand why I should be taking a hit for something that happened years ago before I even came into the office and not only that, now we have safeguards in place so that something like that [torture of accused] wouldn’t happen…we have tried police officers, we have charged police officers and I am the only one in this race who can stand up there and say I have tried and convicted police officers.
Chicago Cops Gone Wild?
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, if the office is doing so well at this stuff, why did they [the police] have to disband the Special Operations unit for what they were doing- rogue cops, you got this …off-duty cop beating up on the barmaid—you’ve seen the videotape, you’ve got off duty cops beating up on the businessmen—is it “Chicago Cops Gone Wild,”still. I mean if all these things [that you refer to] are happening and in place, and all these procedures and you are doing this and that, the stuff I mentioned is happening just in the last six months.
Anita Alvarez: The SOS?
Jeff Berkowitz: Right, the SOS, the barmaid getting beat up, the businessmen getting beat up, what the Hell is going on with these cops.
Anita Alvarez: Well, you are talking about the Chicago Police Department. You are not talking about my office; you are talking about the Chicago—
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, your office is supposed to be going after rogue cops. And if there are rogue cops out there and you are slow to do it, your office takes the hit.
Anita Alvarez: We are not slow to do it. That SOS investigation was a long-term investigation and it resulted in a lot of indictments. So, no, we’re not slow to get on those cases…we investigate not only the allegations of excessive force but also the bribery, the official misconducts and those types of cases.
Disclosing the identities of the Chicago Police 662
Jeff Berkowitz: What about the list of 662 policemen who have had ten or more complaints?
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: [Twenty-eight] Chicago aldermen have filed a lawsuit; they want to get access to those individuals, to the names
Anita Alvarez: To the names.
Aldermanic Oversight of the Chicago Police Department?
Jeff Berkowitz: So, they can exercise oversight, so they can know what’s going on.
Anita Alvarez: The aldermen are going to exercise oversight?
Jeff Berkowitz: That’s what they say.
Anita Alvarez: Well, I don’t—
Jeff Berkowitz: You don’t think they should have access to those names?
Anita Alvarez: No, I don’t. I don’t because there are police officers who have CRs, as we call them. The complaints against them. A lot of those CRs—
Jeff Berkowitz: CRs means?
Anita Alvarez: Complaint registration numbers. There are many very good, aggressive police officers out there who are going to pick up, as we say, CRs. That doesn’t mean the allegations—that they are truthful.
Civil and criminal allegations a part of the public record?
Jeff Berkowitz: There are good people in civil life who are good people and somebody files a complaint, a wife, for instance—Blair Hull [had that come out in the Senate Primary race in 2004], it’s all public.
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, it’s okay for individuals to be wrongfully accused and the public gets to know about that, but if a policeman gets more than ten complaints, the City Council, exercising oversight, doesn’t have the right to know? Don’t you think it is a bit inconsistent?
Anita Alvarez: No, I think it is dangerous to release those names to all the aldermen in the City of Chicago. What—
Jeff Berkowitz: You can have a protective order that says that they can’t disclose that [to others]. The court orders that type of thing all the time. So, this information can be used only by the aldermen.
Anita Alvarez: Well, I would like to know what the aldermen are going to do with it.
Why the alderman want the names of the Chicago Police 662
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, they say they are going to look at it and they would probably call somebody, maybe the State’s Attorney, before them and ask about—have you looked at this? Has this pattern of this person getting 10 or 15—
Anita Alvarez: So, the aldermen are better suited than to look for patterns than—
Checks and Balances: The American Way?
Jeff Berkowitz: They provide a check. That’s what this country is all about. We don’t trust the Executive, we don’t trust the Judiciary, and we don’t trust the Congress. We try to have checks and balances, right…Shouldn’t the City Council have some oversight as to what is going on in the police department and maybe even oversight to bring the State’s Attorney to talk about what’s going on in terms of that investigation and you can’t do that if you don’t know the names…this is what America is about…checks and balances, right? I don’t mean to wave the flag at you, but it is checks and balances.
Anita Alvarez: It is checks and balances, but we are trained, we are prosecutors and we have investigators assigned to our office. So, we are trained to look into these kinds of matters. I am not saying we are—
Jeff Berkowitz: You are saying we should trust you… the city council shouldn’t ask any questions, just trust you and it will be fine.
Anita Alvarez: No, that’s not what I am saying. I’m not saying—
Jeff Berkowitz: You are saying you are trained, so—
Anita Alvarez: I am not saying that we are doing everything perfectly.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, how will they know? How can they check if they can’t even get the names of these people? They can’t even have an intelligent conversation because you are not giving them access.
Anita Alvarez: No, I think they can have an intelligent conversation and if the aldermen wanted to do something about police corruption, Ald. Allen and Ald. Brookins [Allen does not favor release of the names to the City Council, Brookins does; Both are candidates for State’s Attorney in the Democratic Primary] —they are sitting in the City Council for years and years and years. They have more of an opportunity to make a change in the Chicago police department than a State’s Attorney or me as an Ass’t, a sitting State’s Attorney… I am not saying we are doing everything perfectly, we don’t, we’re not.
Grading the State’s Attorney’s office
Jeff Berkowitz: …When asked to grade the office, you said a B or B plus, right?
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: For what period of time—
Anita Alvarez: Because I think there is more that we can do.
Jeff Berkowitz: For the last ten years, a B or B plus?
Anita Alvarez: Yes.
Jeff Berkowitz: I think Bob Milan said an A plus. What’s the difference between you and him? What do you think should be done to get it to an A plus?
Anita Alvarez: Because I know there are changes that need to be made.
Alvarez: A Change Agent?
Jeff Berkowitz: So, give me the top three things that you would do in the first year if you were the State’s Attorney? To change.
Anita Alvarez: To change? I would like to bring back the …
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. You may watch "Public Affairs," shows with Presidential Candidates Richardson, Obama, McCain, Giuliani and Cox and many other pols at www.PublicAffairsTv.com
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Anita Alvarez: Yes, I think he is wrong. Because, I don’t understand why I should be taking a hit for something that happened years ago before I even came into the office and not only that, now we have safeguards in place so that something like that [torture of accused] wouldn’t happen…we have tried police officers, we have charged police officers and I am the only one in this race who can stand up there and say I have tried and convicted police officers.
********************************
Jeff Berkowitz: [Twenty-eight] Chicago aldermen have filed a lawsuit; they want to get access to those individuals, to the names [of the 662 police who have received ten or more complaints].
Anita Alvarez: To the names.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, they can exercise oversight, so they can know what’s going on.
Anita Alvarez: The aldermen are going to exercise oversight?
******************************
Jeff Berkowitz: They provide a check. That’s what this country is all about. We don’t trust the Executive, we don’t trust the Judiciary, and we don’t trust the Congress. We try to have checks and balances, right…Shouldn’t the City Council have oversight as to what is going on in the police department...
Anita Alvarez: It is checks and balances, but we are trained, we are prosecutors and we have investigators assigned to our office. So, we are trained to look into these kinds of matters. I am not saying we are—
*****************************
Tonight's City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs (8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV) features Cook County, IL State's Attorney Candidate Anita Alvarez. Alvarez is Dick Devine's (the current State's Attorney) Chief Deputy, meaning Alvarez shares oversight responsibility for almost 900 attorneys and about six hundred support staff with her immediate boss, First Ass't Bob Milan, and she deals with budget and other Leadership and administrative issues in the State's Atttorney office. She is running in a tough six candidate Democratic Primary.
The show with Anita Alvarez also airs at 7:30 pm tonight [Dec. 17] on Aurora Community Television on Comcast Cable Ch. 10 in Aurora and some surrounding areas. That is, the Aurora station reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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Next Monday night's "Public Affairs," show in Chicago (8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV) features Ald. Tom Allen, another candidate for State's Attorney in the Democratic Primary.
8th CD Republican Primary candidate Kirk Morris (Gurnee) is the featured guest on this week's Suburban edition of Public Affairs. This is the second appearance of Morris on Public Affairs.
************************************
Chief Deputy Alvarez debates and discusses with show host and Executive Legal Recruiter Jeff Berkowitz a broad range of State's Attorney public policy issues. Go here for a description of the topics discussed on tonight's show, a partial transcript of the show and more about Chief Deputy Alvarez.
************************************************************************
You may also now watch the show with State's Attorney Democratic Primary candidate Alvarez and soon this week's suburban edition of Public Affairs show with 8th CD Republican Primary candidate Kirk Morris, along with other recently posted shows, including State's Attorney Candidates First Ass't Milan, Ald. Allen, Comm. Suffredin and Ald. Brookins; Rep. Hamos (D-Evanston), 14th CD Republican Primary candidates Sen. Lauzen and Jim Oberweis, former candidate Mayor Burns and 14th CD Democratic Primary Candidates Jotham Stein and John Laesch on your computer at PublicAffairsTV.com. [For all of the shows on the Public Affairs podcast page, other than Alvarez and Oberweis , please click the Archives icon to bring up those shows].
In addition to those shows, prior shows on the "Public Affairs," podcast page feature Presidential candidates Obama, Giuliani, Richardson, McCain and Cox, and many other pols, including Obama-Bean in April, 2006, Congresswoman Bean in January, 2006 and Congresswoman Schakowsky in October, 2005 and opinion makers. You may also watch these "Public Affairs," shows and others at www.itunes.com
*****************************************************************
Having trouble watching the 14th CD Democratic and Republican Primary candidates listed above and the Alvarez,Milan, Brookins, Suffredin and Allen quintet on the Public Affairs podcast page or at Itunes.com? Not to worry, you can now go here to watch them all on YouTube.com as well other Public Affairs shows, e.g., our extended interview with Presidential candidate Gov. Bill Richardson. This TV show host has been told that almost anybody who has a computer should be able to access Youtube, so no longer will you have a technical excuse for not watching Public Affairs, as all of our shows, going forward, and many prior ones, will be posted on YouTube.com.
**********************************
The show with Anita Alvarez was recorded on December 9, 2007
*************************************************
A partial transcipt of the show with Candidate Alvarez is included directly, below.
*******************************************************
Are Alvarez and Milan joined at the hip to Daley and Devine?
Jeff Berkowitz: This is what people are saying about you and [First Ass’t] Bob Milan because if Daley didn’t do the right thing [on torture] as State’s attorney, and if Devine didn’t do the right thing [as Daley’s First Ass’t], you and Bob Milan…are tied at the hip to Devine at least, if not to Daley. You can’t ask for the support of that guy and tout that you are close to Devine and close to the office, and then say, “I don’t really know what he did [on torture].
Anita Alvarez, Chief Deputy to Dick Devine and State’s Attorney of Cook County candidate, Democratic Party: I am not joined at the hip with Mayor Daley and—
Jeff Berkowitz: Devine, you joined at—would you like the endorsement of Dick Devine.
Anita Alvarez: Well, you know Dick Devine is in a position where he has his two top deputies [Milan and Alvarez] running against each other, so he has remained—
Jeff Berkowitz: So, you don’t think he will endorse?
Anita Alvarez: No, he is remaining neutral and I think that is probably the best thing for him to do. But, I am not joined at the hip with the Mayor—
Jeff Berkowitz: But, are you joined at the hip with Dick Devine?
Anita Alvarez: No, I am not joined at the hip with Dick Devine.
Jeff Berkowitz: And, so when Brookins says if the State’s Attorney’s office screwed up…. the two top people there, Milan and Alvarez—they have to take a hit as well; you’re saying Brookins is wrong?
Anita Alvarez: Yes, I think he is wrong. Because, I don’t understand why I should be taking a hit for something that happened years ago before I even came into the office and not only that, now we have safeguards in place so that something like that [torture of accused] wouldn’t happen…we have tried police officers, we have charged police officers and I am the only one in this race who can stand up there and say I have tried and convicted police officers.
Chicago Cops Gone Wild?
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, if the office is doing so well at this stuff, why did they [the police] have to disband the Special Operations unit for what they were doing- rogue cops, you got this …off-duty cop beating up on the barmaid—you’ve seen the videotape, you’ve got off duty cops beating up on the businessmen—is it “Chicago Cops Gone Wild,”still. I mean if all these things [that you refer to] are happening and in place, and all these procedures and you are doing this and that, the stuff I mentioned is happening just in the last six months.
Anita Alvarez: The SOS?
Jeff Berkowitz: Right, the SOS, the barmaid getting beat up, the businessmen getting beat up, what the Hell is going on with these cops.
Anita Alvarez: Well, you are talking about the Chicago Police Department. You are not talking about my office; you are talking about the Chicago—
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, your office is supposed to be going after rogue cops. And if there are rogue cops out there and you are slow to do it, your office takes the hit.
Anita Alvarez: We are not slow to do it. That SOS investigation was a long-term investigation and it resulted in a lot of indictments. So, no, we’re not slow to get on those cases…we investigate not only the allegations of excessive force but also the bribery, the official misconducts and those types of cases.
Disclosing the identities of the Chicago Police 662
Jeff Berkowitz: What about the list of 662 policemen who have had ten or more complaints?
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: [Twenty-eight] Chicago aldermen have filed a lawsuit; they want to get access to those individuals, to the names
Anita Alvarez: To the names.
Aldermanic Oversight of the Chicago Police Department?
Jeff Berkowitz: So, they can exercise oversight, so they can know what’s going on.
Anita Alvarez: The aldermen are going to exercise oversight?
Jeff Berkowitz: That’s what they say.
Anita Alvarez: Well, I don’t—
Jeff Berkowitz: You don’t think they should have access to those names?
Anita Alvarez: No, I don’t. I don’t because there are police officers who have CRs, as we call them. The complaints against them. A lot of those CRs—
Jeff Berkowitz: CRs means?
Anita Alvarez: Complaint registration numbers. There are many very good, aggressive police officers out there who are going to pick up, as we say, CRs. That doesn’t mean the allegations—that they are truthful.
Civil and criminal allegations a part of the public record?
Jeff Berkowitz: There are good people in civil life who are good people and somebody files a complaint, a wife, for instance—Blair Hull [had that come out in the Senate Primary race in 2004], it’s all public.
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, it’s okay for individuals to be wrongfully accused and the public gets to know about that, but if a policeman gets more than ten complaints, the City Council, exercising oversight, doesn’t have the right to know? Don’t you think it is a bit inconsistent?
Anita Alvarez: No, I think it is dangerous to release those names to all the aldermen in the City of Chicago. What—
Jeff Berkowitz: You can have a protective order that says that they can’t disclose that [to others]. The court orders that type of thing all the time. So, this information can be used only by the aldermen.
Anita Alvarez: Well, I would like to know what the aldermen are going to do with it.
Why the alderman want the names of the Chicago Police 662
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, they say they are going to look at it and they would probably call somebody, maybe the State’s Attorney, before them and ask about—have you looked at this? Has this pattern of this person getting 10 or 15—
Anita Alvarez: So, the aldermen are better suited than to look for patterns than—
Checks and Balances: The American Way?
Jeff Berkowitz: They provide a check. That’s what this country is all about. We don’t trust the Executive, we don’t trust the Judiciary, and we don’t trust the Congress. We try to have checks and balances, right…Shouldn’t the City Council have some oversight as to what is going on in the police department and maybe even oversight to bring the State’s Attorney to talk about what’s going on in terms of that investigation and you can’t do that if you don’t know the names…this is what America is about…checks and balances, right? I don’t mean to wave the flag at you, but it is checks and balances.
Anita Alvarez: It is checks and balances, but we are trained, we are prosecutors and we have investigators assigned to our office. So, we are trained to look into these kinds of matters. I am not saying we are—
Jeff Berkowitz: You are saying we should trust you… the city council shouldn’t ask any questions, just trust you and it will be fine.
Anita Alvarez: No, that’s not what I am saying. I’m not saying—
Jeff Berkowitz: You are saying you are trained, so—
Anita Alvarez: I am not saying that we are doing everything perfectly.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, how will they know? How can they check if they can’t even get the names of these people? They can’t even have an intelligent conversation because you are not giving them access.
Anita Alvarez: No, I think they can have an intelligent conversation and if the aldermen wanted to do something about police corruption, Ald. Allen and Ald. Brookins [Allen does not favor release of the names to the City Council, Brookins does; Both are candidates for State’s Attorney in the Democratic Primary] —they are sitting in the City Council for years and years and years. They have more of an opportunity to make a change in the Chicago police department than a State’s Attorney or me as an Ass’t, a sitting State’s Attorney… I am not saying we are doing everything perfectly, we don’t, we’re not.
Grading the State’s Attorney’s office
Jeff Berkowitz: …When asked to grade the office, you said a B or B plus, right?
Anita Alvarez: Um-um.
Jeff Berkowitz: For what period of time—
Anita Alvarez: Because I think there is more that we can do.
Jeff Berkowitz: For the last ten years, a B or B plus?
Anita Alvarez: Yes.
Jeff Berkowitz: I think Bob Milan said an A plus. What’s the difference between you and him? What do you think should be done to get it to an A plus?
Anita Alvarez: Because I know there are changes that need to be made.
Alvarez: A Change Agent?
Jeff Berkowitz: So, give me the top three things that you would do in the first year if you were the State’s Attorney? To change.
Anita Alvarez: To change? I would like to bring back the …
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. You may watch "Public Affairs," shows with Presidential Candidates Richardson, Obama, McCain, Giuliani and Cox and many other pols at www.PublicAffairsTv.com
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