Badges - Down to three in Chicago,,from the Sun-Times
- From: CHK8093@xxxxxxx
- To: TOPCOPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, badges@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, COPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:30:12 -0400 (EDT)
Chicagoâ??s top cop search down to three finalists, sources say
The competition to become Chicagoâ??s next police superintendent has come
down to a three-man race between a veteran Chicago cop and a pair of
outsiders, with a final decision possible later this week, City Hall sources
said
Monday.
The top three are: Newark Police Chief Garry McCarthy; national drug czar
R. Gil Kerlikowske and Chicagoâ??s deputy chief-of-detectives Al Wysinger.
Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel was asked Monday whether an outsider can improve the
morale problems that dogged career FBI agent Jody Weis.
â??My No. 1 goal â?¦ is what do we have to do to reduce violent crime in the
city,â?? he said.
â??Iâ??m looking for a person who understands that the beat officer is the
backbone of the law enforcement community. â?¦. The measure is, how do we get
results and who is the right leadership to get results.â??
If Emanuel chooses to go with an outsider, McCarthy appears to have the
edge.
Thatâ??s because of his background as a street cop and the role he once
played as the driving force behind the CompStat program credited with
dramatically reducing New York Cityâ??s homicide rate.
Under the program, police commanders are called before a review board on a
monthly basis and held accountable for crime spikes.
McCarthy was a surprise finalist in the 2003 search that culminated in
Mayor Daleyâ??s appointment of Phil Cline.
At the time, the Police Board was willing to take the heat for choosing
three whites as finalists because it was â??absolutely dazzledâ?? by McCarthy.
â??We knew the ticket lacked diversity, but we also felt strongly that if
Garry McCarthy could bring his experience to Chicago, it would help address
our homicide rate, our drug and gang problems,â?? Police Board President
Demetrius Carney said at the time.
â??He interviewed so well. His knowledge of the city was just unbelievable.
He knew the top brass here. He knew and understood our CAPS program. If we
could combine his CompStat with CAPS, what a strong city weâ??d have.â??
Kerlikowske is a former Seattle police chief. But, his current job as
national drug czar would likely make him more of a federal bureaucrat in the
eyes of rank-and-file Chicago Police officers. That could be a liability
after Weis.
The only hitch for McCarthy could be a 2005 disorderly conduct conviction
stemming from McCarthyâ??s attempt to get his daughter out of a parking
ticket.
At the time, McCarthy and his wife had been driving down New Jerseyâ??s
Palisades Parkway while their teenaged daughters followed in another vehicle.
The McCarthy daughters separated from their parents, stopped at a rest
stop and parked in a handicapped space without the required placard.
When a pair of plainclothes Parkway police officers issued a ticket,
McCarthyâ??s daughter allegedly explained that she had an ankle injury caused
by a
prior accident and had been issued a placard, but didnâ??t have it with her.
Garry McCarthy was then accused of driving up in a police SUV, blocking
the unmarked New Jersey police car and engaging in a shouting match with the
plainclothes officer. He was placed in handcuffs and led away as a crowd
watched.
Wysinger earned his chops on the day in 2007 when he ran down a gunman who
shot a woman in a West Side gangway near his grandmotherâ??s 80th birthday
party. His appointment would almost certainly play well with the
rank-and-file.
But, his level of experience pales by comparison to McCarthy, who would be
surrounded Emanuel-style by a diverse team of insiders to soften the blow,
City Hall sources said.
The Badges Law Enforcement Discussion Group - Est. 1997
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