About chris

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Christopher Taliaferro is a 1984 graduate of Smithfield High School, in Smithfield, Virginia. Following high school, Chris served in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry sergeant with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1989, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines in Chicago, Illinois, where he taught weapons and tactics during Operation Desert Storm.

Upon his honorable discharge from the military, Chris briefly served as a deputy sheriff of court services with the Cook County Sheriff's Department and in 1994, he began his career with the Chicago Police Department, rising to the rank of Sergeant within the Department. He retired from the police department after 23 years of service.

Chris is a graduate of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois and received his degree, summa cum laude, in Criminal and Social Justice. Chris then received his Juris Doctorate from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, where he appeared on the Dean’s List of honor students and successfully passed the Illinois State Bar Examination in 2007.

In 2015, Chris was proudly elected to represent the residents of the 29th Ward in the City of Chicago. During his second term as alderman, he was appointed by the Honorable Mayor Lori Lightfoot to serve as chairman of the council’s Committee on Public Safety and currently serves as chairman of the Committee on Police and Fire, legislatively overseeing issues regarding the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management and Communication (911 Center), Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the Chicago Police Board and all city emergencies.

He has been married to Melissa Edwards Taliaferro, for 33 years. Their son Marcus received his graduate studies degree from Western Illinois University. Their daughter, Carissa, received her graduate studies degree from Loyola University Chicago and daughter, Erykah, is a graduate of The University of Illinois at Chicago.