Chicago Sun-Times

Mayor-elect Johnson’s team moving quickly to find interim police superinten­dent

Possible replacemen­ts for departing interim top cop include three former members of department’s leadership team

- BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND TOM SCHUBA Staff Reporters

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition team is moving fast to find a replacemen­t or a leadership team to take over the Chicago Police Department on an interim basis.

Acting CPD Supt. Eric Carter announced last week that he will be stepping down May 15, inaugurati­on day for Johnson and the new City Council.

Among those likely under considerat­ion to replace Carter — at least until Johnson chooses a permanent superinten­dent — are three newly departed members of the CPD’s leadership team: former 1st Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio, former Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan and former Chief of Counterter­rorism Ernest Cato.

Long shot possibilit­ies include: Leo Schmitz, former director of the Illlinois State Police and CPD deputy chief now serving as Cook County’s director of public safety; former Interim Supt. Charlie Beck, a former Los Angeles police chief; and former Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson.

Riccio now serves as director of public safety for Monterrey Security. He told the SunTimes last month he was not interested in the permanent job, but would agree to hold down the fort on an interim basis.

Beck told the Sun-Times he would not want to return as interim superinten­dent if it produced “the same results as last time.” Beck was referring to the massive reorganiza­tion he ordered during his five-month stint as interim superinten­dent that was dismantled by his successor, David Brown.

Deenihan could not be reached. Cato, who abruptly resigned last fall, declined to comment.

Cato was a finalist in the search that culminated in Lightfoot’s selection of Brown, a retired Dallas police chief. Cato’s name surfaced recently as an early favorite in the search for a permanent superinten­dent during a public hearing conducted by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountabi­lity. The interim civilian review panel is expected to forward the names of three finalists to the new mayor in mid-July.

Jason Lee, a senior adviser to Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign and transition team, refused to discuss specific names under considerat­ion by the mayor-elect.

Lee said only there are “a lot of really good police leaders in this city who have formerly worked at different law enforcemen­t agencies,” including CPD.

“This is an important decision that has significan­t impact on public safety for the city. It’s a decision that we’re being very thoughtful and careful about. We also want to be able to communicat­e this in short order to the city,” Lee said.

“We’ll come up with a leadership team that reflects Chicago, but most importantl­y has the complement­ary skill sets to manage the police department in a way that is effective for the city . ... There are a lot of different permutatio­ns being considered.”

Lee was asked whether the interim superinten­dent could be a candidate for the permanent job.

“The commission has to do its work,” he said. “It’s hard to dictate that. So we want someone who’s prepared to serve solely in an interim capacity . ... There’s a lot of people who, that’s all they have the stomach for anyway. They’ve done their time, but they’re willing to come in for a short period of time and do the work.”

Lightfoot fired Eddie Johnson after accusing the superinten­dent she inherited of “lying to me and lying to the public” about the circumstan­ces surroundin­g an October 2019 drinking and driving incident that culminated in Johnson being found asleep at the wheel of his running police SUV near his Bridgeport home.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s report on the incident detailed an elaborate police coverup by seven of the former superinten­dent’s underlings. Among those discipline­d was Johnson’s driver, Cynthia Donald, who had spent hours drinking with him at a downtown bar before he was found sleeping in the SUV.

Donald sued Johnson and the city, claiming the fired superinten­dent subjected her to more than three years of sexual assault and harassment. She accused Johnson of repeatedly raping her in his office at police headquarte­rs. Johnson emphatical­ly denied the allegation­s.

“I don’t care where I go in this city, this city has certainly supported me and shown me a lot of love. So I don’t think there’s many people out there that are really concerned with that. I’ll put it like that,” Johnson said Monday.

“I did 31 years with the police department. ... If you look at my career over the years, there were no blemishes or anything. I am human, and I did make a mistake. I own that mistake. ... But I don’t think one night of misjudgmen­t should define my career. And I’m not going to let that define me.”

 ?? ASHLEE REZIN/SUN-TIMES ?? Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson speaks with reporters April 5.
ASHLEE REZIN/SUN-TIMES Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson speaks with reporters April 5.
 ?? ?? Brendan Deenihan
Brendan Deenihan
 ?? ?? Anthony Riccio
Anthony Riccio
 ?? ?? Ernest Cato III
Ernest Cato III
 ?? ?? Charlie Beck
Charlie Beck
 ?? ?? Leo Schmitz
Leo Schmitz
 ?? ?? Eric Carter
Eric Carter

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