Retiring Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson went out of his way Thursday to thank former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for “seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”
What was it that convinced Emanuel to reject three finalists recommended by the Police Board, dispatch with the charade of a second nationwide search and choose a new superintendent who hadn’t even applied for the job?
“I just saw somebody that, because of their character, they trusted him,” Emanuel said Thursday.
“I thought, at this moment in time, what Chicago needed was somebody who people could place their trust in. When I say trust — both officers could trust leadership and the community and religious leaders could trust the character of the person in front.”
After the court-ordered release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, Emanuel embarked on a “listening tour” in a desperate attempt to rebuild public trust shattered by his handling of the video.
Religious leaders and community leaders participated in the focus groups. So did police officials, including Johnson.
At a meeting in Douglas Park, Emanuel saw Johnson in action.
“He responded in a way that didn’t allow any division between the religious leaders and the police department leadership. ... He just spoke in a way that the rank-and-file [and] the rest of the leadership know he was part of them and the religious leaders knew that this was also a person that was part of them. He brought the room together,” Emanuel said.
“About two months later when I had the opportunity — I had to find a superintendent because I didn’t think any of the three names measured up — I looked at the chart and there was Eddie Johnson. It came back to me.”
Emanuel referred to Johnson as a “total mensch” the Yiddish word for a person of character.
“He’s a gentleman. He’s from Chicago. His DNA is made up of CPD. And he knows it. You can see it in how the troops feel about him. You can see it in how the residents feel about him,” Emanuel said.
“Everybody in public life has blemishes and problems in the record. ... [But] look at what was Chicago and CPD the day he walked in and where is it today. ... We’re heading in the right direction. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Eddie Johnson — a kid who grew up in the projects — became, not only a police officer but then became superintendent.”
