Let's hope Johnson passes on the CPD choices
The first three finalists don't reflect a progressive posture-go on to the next group
Mayor Brandon Johnson is less than a week away from facing the toughest decision he has had to make in his young mayoral career-choosing who will lead the 11,000 men and women of the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Unlike the decision to choose an interim superintendent, the mayor has some help and guidance with his options for the permanent selection.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability was tasked with completing a nationwide search and whittling down the choices they would present to Johnson to six individuals. Ironically, the nationwide search didn’t turn up anyone more than 150 miles from Chicago in identifying the top three candidates. The ordinance that established the commission and its mission gives the mayor 30 days from the time he is presented the recommendations to make a decision. That deadline falls on this Saturday August 12.
Slightly more than two months ago, the commission revealed it had completed its search and six potential candidates were identified. Three - Shon Barnes of Madison, WI; Larry Snelling, and Angel Novalez, both current CPD higher ups- are the choices Johnson faces. However, the ordinance also provides some wiggle room for the mayor. If he doesn’t want to choose any of the three, he can require the commission to find three more. Logic tells us the next cohort will be three who didn’t make this cut. That group includes two female candidates.
Mayor Johnson, please pass on these initial choices
The commission’s president, Anthony Driver, Jr. insisted throughout the search process the commission was striving to keep politics out of the selections. How successful it was can be debated later. Upon examining the list of the first group of recommendations, the mayor should note how deeply flawed it is.
Those who recall the names Jody Weiss, Garry McCarthy, Charlie Beck and David Brown might also remember each of these men was brought in from another state to run CPD. To say their respective tenures were lackluster would be a compliment. Weiss was recruited from the FBI with high hopes for righting the CPD ship under Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Somewhere along the lines the vetting process got sloppy and shortly after Weiss was hired it was revealed he couldn’t wear the CPD uniform because he was not a sworn police officer - a federal agent, yes-but a sworn police officer no. It was pretty embarrassing that the top cop had to be tested the same as a rookie cop before he could have a uniform and badge. Having never been a street level cop, Weiss was treading water the entire three years he was here.
The other out-of-towners mentioned never connected with the rank-and-file of the department. Even though McCarthy came here from New York, he couldn’t master the politics of the Windy City. To Beck’s defense, Mayor Lori Lightfoot only brought him here for six months. The departmental attitude appeared to be wait him out regardoing any changes he wanted to make. Although Brown was getting a hefty City of Chicago paycheck - $204,000-he left his heart and much of his policing attention in his hometown of Dallas. It was repeatedly rumored that he traveled back there every weekend.
Shon Barnes, based on the history of other non-Chicagoans who were charged with heading up the department, if selected would walk into a job with the odds against him in a big way.
Mr. Mayor, aren’t you supposed to be progressive?
In politics, labels become less pertinent by the day. Sometimes the are diluted or completely misunderstood, or are simply the wrong label. I can’t help but wonder if the latter is the case with Johnson. If he is what many of us perceive to be progressive he will toss out the recommendation to hire either Snelling or Novalez.
A truly progressive mayor would want a change in the direction and culture of CPD. Do we have anything other than pretty words they obviously uttered during their respective interviews that clearly demonstrates either will make sustained progress to get from under the consent decree, or institute policies that pare overtime, as well as lessen the incidents and subsequently citizens’ complaints about police brutality?
Despite the high praise some former and current cops have for Snelling, it is questionable he will be able to alter the course of the department he has been helping steer in the wrong direction for decades. The same is the case with Novalez. Yes, both men are aware of the challenges, of the department-including the unfulfilled federal consent decree it is operating under - but the continuing accusations of corruption inside the department have been there the whole time they have.
A true progressive would move the department in an entirely new direction
Among the top six candidates who made the commission’s list, two are female. Deputy Migdalia Bulnes heads the department’s street operations; Commander Donna Rowling is in charge of labor relations at CPD. To make history by appointing the first female CPD superintendent would be a true testament to one being progressive, not only in word, but also in deed.
Given the history of the department, there undoubtedly will be some mysgonistic behaviors early on. We have to believe it would be less though than what either women endured moving up the ranks. Johnson should not select either based upon gender, but rather because the department will be moved truly in a new and most likely better direction. Simultaneously, their consideration for the appointment should not be lessened because of gender.
Johnson would be following the lead set late last year by Eric Adams, New York City mayor, who appointed Keechant Sewell as that city’s police commissioner. She is the first female to lead the department in 176 years.