New 13th District Police Commander Kolman now on duty

By Megan Tanco

The recently appointed commander of the 13th Police District, Christine Kolman, is ready to get down to business.

She may be new to the job at the station at 937 N. Wood St., but with 32 years with the Chicago Police Department she is no stranger to law enforcement. Kolman, who replaced Robert Lopez, comes into the position with credentials that include her last position as police Traffic Division commander. She also has worked with the police department’s Juvenile Unit and Narcotics Division and even did some undercover work with the Department of External Affairs.

Recalling her decision to become a police officer, Kolman said she saw it as an “exciting job, and I wanted to help people.” When she joined the department in 1974, women did not serve on street beats.

“We wore skirts, high heels, and we carried our weapons in a shoulder bag,” she recalled. “At that time women who joined the police force went to the youth division.” Working with youngsters molded her career and reinforced her passion for helping the public, she said, and her highest interests remain quality of life issues.

Kolman strongly supports the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (C.A.P.S) program, which partners community members with officers who work on the streets and other City agencies. “We meet weekly and determine areas where there are high levels of public violence, high crime, etc., and then we target those areas for results,” she explained.

The C.A.P.S. team works in various locations in the district, and its members evaluate how they have done in implementing program development ideas. If something is not working, then “we focus new energy and strategize to get rid of or diminish public violence,”

said Kolman. This approach helps make everyone responsible for improving the community. Kolman’s personal motto also is the C.A.P.S. program’s motto: “Together we can.” Kolman wants to be a conduit for bettering the area and helping residents be proud and comfortable in the community in whichthey live. She also wants the community to know she is there to listen to them and respond to their needs by providing targeted help in areas that need it most.

The 13th District is a multi-cultural community with boundaries at Division Street on the north, the Chicago River on the east, Kedzie Avenue on the west, and Madison Street on the south. Two major problems Kolman sees in the district are drugs and gangs. According to the Chicago Police Department’s Index Crime Summary, the 13th District ranks near the bottom, 22nd out of 25 in a change or decrease of violent crimes. Despite this poor statistic, Kolman believes that together her department and community members can make the 13th a better place to live.

“Although the gang activity is high in my district, now with gentrification in the neighborhood it seems that there is less of it,” Kolman said. “But it still exists.” She wants the community to know the police cannot overcome gangs alone—local residents must help and get involved as well.

In June, in Beat 1311 in the 13th District, police closed down a store that allegedly had disrupted the community for years. People loitered in front of it and allegedly solicited children to join gangs, sold narcotics, and sold alcohol to minors. At times, shots were fired.

With help from C.A.P.S and community members, police identified the store as the source of many of the neighborhood’s problems and shut it down.

On June 17, the Traffic Section of the Chicago Police Department conducted a very successful DUI (driving under the influence) strike force in the 13th and 14th Districts. Police wrote up 209 violations, two of which were for drivers under the influence; they also wrote up 43 speeding violations and 14driver’s license violations.

“Working with the community, helping to solve problems, and making the 13th District a better place to live” is how Kolman characterizes such operations. Kolman cannot attend all C.A.P.S. meeting but makes as many as she can. For more information, call the C.A.P.S. office at (312) 746-8355. Cmdr. Kolman can be reached at (312) 746-8357.