Veteran Chicago cop Frederick Collins jumps into mayor’s race

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Longtime Chicago police officer Frederick Collins announced his second run for mayor on Sunday, joining a growing cast of candidates looking to make the city’s crime problem a key campaign issue in their efforts to unseat Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

If elected, the decorated 29-year police veteran said he plans to tackle the “deadly crime sprees and carjackings that have plagued our city” and left residents feeling “unsafe and fearful.”

“I ask that you help me institute new reforms and bring about the revival and renewal of our great American city while there is still time,” Collins said in a statement ahead of a news conference at Performing Christ Ministries in South Austin.

Collins’ early platform also includes a 15-year property tax freeze that his campaign said “would allow individuals to get back on track and have a fresh start with their business and homeownership.”

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), businessman Willie Wilson and state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) have all prioritized law-and-order initiatives while throwing their hats in the ring.

Lightfoot, who hasn’t formally announced her candidacy but has signaled her intention to run, declared 2022 a “make-or-break year” for lowering violent crime and has faced mounting pressure to do just that.

Collins previously ran for mayor in 2015, but withdrew from the ballot while facing a challenge to his nominating petitions. 

Before that, he lost the Republican primary in his 2012 bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago). Then, in 2016, he ran as a Democrat when he challenged Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) but withdrew ahead of the primary.

Collins has faced 40 complaints as a cop, more than 94% of other officers, according to the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit that compiles data on police misconduct. That includes eight complaints that were sustained, and six which resulted in discipline.

The mayoral election takes place Feb. 28, 2023.