Quincy Reporter

Mecki Kosin just shakes her head when she heard people talk about defunding or disbanding the Chicago Police Department.

“This call to defund the Chicago Police Department is utter nonsense,” Kosin said. “All the murders happening in Chicago regularly (about which we have not heard anything since the COVID issue has been the shining object of the day, and now the riots/peaceful demonstrations) need a strong police force to protect those who are innocent.”

The idea of cutting funds for police departments or even shutting them down has surfaced in the last two weeks following the death of George Floyd in police custody. The four police officers involved have been fired and face criminal charges.

A protest rally in Union Park and march through parts of Chicago on Friday, speakers said the Chicago Police Department and Illinois National Guard should stand down and let protests continue without oversight.

They said the department’s $1 billion annual budget could be better spent on rent relief, mental health clinics, COVID-19 testing and purchasing personal protective equipment for health-care workers and first responders.

In addition to Chicago, the discussion has surfaced in New York City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and other cities.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot resisted calls to defund the department but said officers are expected to be professional and fair.

“Since the onset of these events, Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent [David] Brown have been unequivocally resolute that police misconduct of any kind will not be tolerated and those found committing wrongdoing will be held fully accountable,” her office said in a statement. “Just as the overwhelming majority of protests remained peaceful this week, the vast majority of officers followed their training and supervisor direction during these difficult times. Nonetheless, we will continue to vigorously investigate all reports of excessive force arising from this week.”

Lightfoot was appointed president of the Chicago Police Board in 2015, and led the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force which released a report on suggested department improvements.

Kosin told Quincy Reporter she feels much of the current unrest was sparked in the last decade.

“I believe that race relations under President Obama have gone backwards by at least 50 years,” she said. “I did not vote for him, but was willing to give him a chance to heal whatever divisions there still were. Well, I am sorry to say that I was wrong in hoping he would help heal our country!"

“We have had police reforms already. More blacks were employed and off welfare just before the recent crisis,” Kosin said. “Every profession has bad apples, and so there are some brutal folks in the police departments who should really not be there. When you look at the numbers of murders committed by one race against another, this does not show that all white officers are murdering black innocents.”

She said the protests and calls for disbanding police departments smacks to her of people trying to force their views on others.

“I am getting really tired of the bullying going on in our country! A small minority of thugs want to have their way and will do anything they have to in order to get it, including looting, destroying other people’s things and businesses, and even taking lives,” Kosin said. “They are the criminals that need to be dealt with, but we have a governor in Illinois who lets those bad guys out of prison because of fear of a virus! Really?”

She wasn’t born in America but is a dedicated believer in the American way of life.

Kosin, 69, lives in Quincy — “where I have lived since arriving here from Germany in 1972.” She is married with two daughters and six grandchildren.

She is a precinct committeewoman, although she had to be talked into it.

“I always said I would never run for office, since I was not born here (Germany) and don’t have a birth certificate but someone asked me to take this position,” Kosin said. “I am currently the president of our Quincy Tea Party, and Secretary of the Adams County Republican Central Committee. I watch politics very closely, and tell those elected exactly what I think, good or bad. I have had good relationships with our elected officials all the way to our U.S. Rep. (Darin) LaHood, not so much our U.S. senators from Illinois.”