Was appointing a non-applicant police leader “with deep roots in the city” the appropriate thing to do for Chicago?
Asked by
ibstubro (
18804
)
March 30th, 2016
Given that Chicago is notorious for corruption; that the former Police Superintendent resigned under the cloud of the Laquan McDonald investigation; and that the Mayor charged with naming a Police replacement – Rahm Emanuel – was tainted by the same scandal, was appointing a non-applicant police leader “with deep roots in the city” the appropriate thing to do? [Link]?
Eddie Johnson, New Chicago Police Leader, Has Deep Roots in a City Adrift in Turmoil
**Mayor and top cop are implicated in a police cover-up
**Top Cop resigns
**As per city ordinance Mayor appoints Police Board to recommend a successor for the Top Cop
**Mayor ignores his own Board and appoints a Local Cop that had not applied for the job.
**Mayor calls on Police Board to start the search for Top Cop over, at taxpayer expense, and asks they consider the Local Cop if he should apply.
The taxpayers might have been better off if Mayor had just sold the job, as per Illinois tradition.
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6 Answers
Sounds interesting and complicated. I wish I were qualified to speculate but I’m not. Following.
@ibstubro I know trying to portray Emanual as a comic-book super-villain is a little hobby of yours, but maybe you could make an effort and comment on the actual story you linked, not your own ominous-sounding bullet points.
This is a temporary appointment while the search is rebooted.
The mayor didn’t like the choices of the board, probably because they would not please the black and minority communities that are most rightly most unhappy with recent events.
And from the link: ”Community leaders described Mr. Johnson, 55, who was promoted to chief of patrol in December, as liked by residents and respected by his fellow police officers. City Hall officials also credit Mr. Johnson with having a history of tamping down crime: In 2013, the region he oversaw led the city in lowering gun violence, murders and shootings.”
@jaytkay I know that defending the corrupt Chicago political machine personified by Emanual is a major hobby of yours, but
Yet why should the public be expected to trust the police department when the very process the city used to install its leadership is fixed?
“Johnson may be a good choice, but the mayor’s interference with this process is as knee jerk as it comes.”
Emanual appointed Supt. Garry McCarthy and ‘had his back’ up until the day McMarthy resigned.
John J. Escalante, Emanuel’s first interim superintendent, applied for the permanent job but was turned down.
“Frankly, if the mayor doesn’t trust the judgment of the Police Board when it comes to this critical decision, why in the world would he expect the public to respect that board’s judgment on important decisions it must make in the future?”
I don’t know why the mayor is not an ex-mayor serving time.
There is nothing correct about the appointment.
People keep saying they love Chicago…....................the dumbing down of the country is surely working.
One can love a city without loving the corrupt politics that operate there. I speak as one who grew up just on the edge of the sphere of influence of the ”(Richard J.) Daley Machine” in the fifties and sixties.
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