At a meeting of the Chicago Police Board Thursday, the process to find the permanent replacement for retiring Superintendent Eddie Johnson was officially launched.
The process will be led by the police board, which will put together a list of three candidates for the consideration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Then, with the “advice and consent of the City Council,” the decision will be made as to who will be Chicago’s next top cop.
“The application will allow the board to identify the best possible candidates,” CPD Board President Ghian Foreman said in a statement. “We are going beyond resumes by requiring each applicant to discuss in detail their experience in leading proactive crime-reduction initiatives, significant advances in training and accountability, and proven strategies for increasing trust between police officers and the communities they serve.”
The application is now live on the City of Chicago’s website. Among the criteria interested candidates will need are a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree, or equivalent training in an accredited law enforcement training program.
The department is also looking for candidates willing to implement consent-decree requirements. According to a semi-annual report examining the CPD’s implementation of a consent decree that was put into effect earlier this year, the department is not in compliance with a majority of reforms, and has missed 37 of 50 deadlines to get into “preliminary compliance,” according to WTTW.
Candidates have until Jan. 13 to apply for the position. The board will conduct in-depth interviews with the best qualified candidates, then nominate three finalists for the consideration of the mayor and City Council.
Three different listening sessions will be hosted by the board as they work through finding candidates, the board announced Thursday. Those sessions will be used to get public feedback on what qualifications and experience the police board should look for in the next superintendent.
Listening sessions are scheduled for:
Dec. 9 – Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 West 95th Street
Dec. 11 – Muslim Community Center, 4380 North Elston Avenue
Dec. 12 – JLM Community Center, 2622 West Jackson Boulevard
Local
All three listening sessions will run from 6 to 8 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 P.M.
The application process comes in the weeks after Superintendent Johnson announced that he planned to retire at the end of the year. Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck was named as the department’s interim superintendent earlier this year.
