March 18--Mayor Rahm Emanuel's hand-picked Police Board has chosen a black Georgia law enforcement veteran with a doctorate in clinical psychology, a white female lawyer who was police chief of Spokane, Wash., and an African-American insider with 15 years of command experience with Chicago police as finalists to be the next police superintendent here.
In making the announcement, Lori Lightfoot, the Police Board head, called the decision a historic moment for the Police Department, saying, "Things have to change from the inside out."
The three vying for the superintendent's post are:
--Cedric Alexander, the public safety director of DeKalb County in Georgia who has 39 years in law enforcement, including as police chief in Rochester, N.Y.
--Anne Kirkpatrick, who was police chief in Spokane for six years and is an instructor at the FBI Leadership Program.
--Chicago Deputy Police Superintendent Eugene Williams, who has 36 years with Chicago police, 15 years on the command staff, including his current position as head of the Bureau of Support Services, which oversees the department's administrative activities.
Alexander and Williams are black; Kirkpatrick is white.
Lightfoot said the three stood out from the 39 candidates who applied because of their understanding of the challenges facing the Chicago Police Department at one of the most tumultuous times in its history.
Whoever is selected as the superintendent, she said, faces three major challenges -- rebuilding trust with the community, dealing with the violence "devastating too many of our neighborhoods" and supporting rank-and-file officers while holding them accountable for misconduct.
"Accountability has to be the rule of the day for the Chicago Police Department and that has to happen regardless of who is chosen as superintendent," Lightfoot said at a news conference.
Former Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who held the post for more than 4 1/2 years, was fired Dec. 1 by Emanuel in the fallout over the release of a video showing a white police officer shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. Emanuel fought the release of the police dashboard-camera video for more than a year until a judge in November ordered him to make it public.
The video's release roiled the city, resulting in weeks of street protests, a U.S. Justice Department probe into the Police Department's use of force, and calls for the resignations of Emanuel and Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, who lost in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
Emanuel has since been scrambling to carry out reforms, announcing mandatory officer training and appointing a task force to examine other issues such as community relations and transparency within the department.
The next superintendent will be expected to take a leadership role in that process and also help oversee the implementation of any additional reforms called for by the Justice Department.
Given that climate and the continuing violence plaguing impoverished pockets of the West and South sides, the mayor could face pressure to appoint an African-American as the top cop of the 12,000-strong force. The last three superintendents have been white -- and two of those were hired from outside the Chicago Police Department.
The Chicago Police Board sought applications from around the country, asking applicants to write eight essays on issues ranging from reducing violence to fostering a culture of integrity among officers and ending bias-based policing.
Alexander, who serves on the Obama administration's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, has become a national commentator on police reform. In a column for CNN last month, he took a swipe at Emanuel and Alvarez, ripping the city's delay in releasing the video of Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting McDonald.
"Official evasion, deception and delay have made a terrible event corrosive and destructive," Alexander wrote. "When the news is bad, our leaders have a duty to deliver it. Whether the news is bad for us or bad for them, they need to disclose it, fast and in full. Bad news does not improve with age."
Williams currently runs a department bureau that oversees training and accountability, two critical areas amid the probe by the Justice Department. He was one of the finalists when McCarthy was chosen superintendent in 2011.
The Police Board bypassed John Escalante, who was appointed interim superintendent by Emanuel after McCarthy's firing. He will continue in that post until a successor can be named and take office. Escalante had said he would seek the permanent post.
